“salty winter adult” jack frost. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nippy) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bravenewworld2015-09-05 05:14 pm
nippy) wrote in bravenewworld2015-09-05 05:14 pm
ACTION/VIDEO.
( ACTION - FOR DANNY. )
[ Jack has been feeling strange lately, unsettled and off-balance, like he doesn't quite fit inside of his own skin anymore. he's been dealing with the drawbacks of his Homunculus nature for more than long enough to know that's a bad sign, so he decided to seclude himself inside of his home for a while just in case. it drives him stir-crazy, but it's better that than exploding into a ball of ice spikes in the middle of the street.
this particular day feels worse than any of the others so far, though. the cold that usually sits in a tidy ball inside of him is overwhelming; it feels like he can't even breathe (all he can think of is waking up strapped to a table, too little air, every nerve in his body searing with pain) and every exhale is mist and frost. it just makes him angry, suffocated, swallowed by this stupid thing, the stupid inescapable thing that he is. like he's caged, or trapped. the table. gasping, scared, Jack Frost—
sitting inside is too much to deal with all of a sudden, just making him feel even more claustrophobic and restless - the streets are still too much of a risk for him to take, so he slips outside and climbs onto a rooftop to sit there instead. space without having to put anyone else in danger. it also gives him more options for things to do, and he starts firing chips of ice across the rooftops as target practice, keeping his hands busy. that's all it is at first, anyway. the longer he thinks, the more it becomes an outlet for his frustration, spiralling down into rage, and he throws spikes instead. he doesn't remember when he got to his feet but it doesn't matter anymore, not when that messy tangle of cold and anger is surging up again.
the first sign that something is wrong - really wrong, not just the usual baseline Homunculus-wrong - is when, instead of ice, a great bolt of frost cracks through the air like lightning.
after that, everything happens so fast. Jack falls. he tips over the edge of the rooftop and then he's on the ground and heaving, sucking down air that he can't feel, clawing at his chest like he could tear his way inside. he winds up his knees, doubled over himself; it was what he'd always done on his own when the cold was too much, curled into a ball and tried to press it all back inside, but right now he does it because it hurts so much. the cold is searing and wild and all-consuming, a wintry blaze. the hollow space he carries becomes a hungry, ruinous cavern that opens up inside of his ribcage and sucks everything else right out of him. in that moment of panic and frenzy, Jack genuinely fears that he is being eaten alive.
he can barely lift his head to check the state of his surroundings (an alleyway, thank the gods, he fell into an alleyway) and honestly, he doesn't need to. even if he couldn't hear the crackle of frost crawling across the floor and the high-pitched splintering of ice spikes bursting forth around him, he would know. it may not be by his will, but the power is still being dragged out of him, he can feel every inch of it.
and it doesn't feel like it's going to stop. he doesn't even feel like a person anymore, just a fragile bundle of bones and too-tight skin, everything about him is wrong wrong wrong. whatever tenuous Mage-sewn thread holds him together seems like it's finally going to snap. ]
Go, [ he gasps out to his Pokémon, and they do, because they had promised him.
most of them linger around near the dead end alleyway to fret, to keep people away from the destruction, but Baby wastes no time in shooting off with a purpose firmly in her mind. Danny. Danny has calmed Jack before and he can be trusted, Jack trusts him. even if he can't help, surely he can do more than any of the rest of them can alone, because she doesn't know what's happening but Jack needs something.
it doesn't take long to find his house, and she flies straight for a window. ]
( VIDEO. )
[ Jack looks... tired, sitting on the floor of his room. and he's almost blue in certain places, around the eyes and mouth - not like an ordinary person in need of warming up, but like a corpse that's been left out in the cold for a good long while. that isn't the only difference; usually in video messages, he's curled up somewhere with his Pokémon draped all over him. for once, the majority of them are nowhere in sight, except for a Sneasel plastered against his front and a Froslass tucked into his side. ]
Soooo. First things first, I'm heading off to Sanctuary with Lux for a while. I'm gonna check up on the Homunculi there, if anyone else actually cares. [ that is definitely a bitter jab there. he's not at all happy about how the negotiations turned out after everyone made all those reassurances. ] Oh, I evolved just recently, that's another thing. If you noticed it get about ten degrees colder for a minute the other day, yeah, that was me. Kind of a weird experience, to be honest, and definitely not one I personally would choose to repeat! It might have been nice to get a warning about it? You know, just, a common courtesy, "by the way, if you haven't evolved before, you should know that it might feel like you're dying at first. But don't worry about it!"
[ evolution does not make his Homunculus body more stable, and because every part of him was completely unequipped to deal with the change, it was an awful shift that he's still adjusting to. he doesn't yet realise this isn't the normal experience that everyone has. ]
But on a slightly more pressing note, uh... Does anyone have a problem with not being able to touch things? Or people, or Pokémon - and I mean, ever. Because— this?
[ he picks up his familiar shepherd's staff, and immediately, thick frost begins spreading across the wood. the exasperated expression on Jack's face may be telling of the fact that he is not deliberately making this happen. ]
This is kind of a problem. [ a Growlithe comes shuffling into view to nose at Jack, and Jack gently pushes it back with his staff, laughing. ] No, idiot, I keep telling you! You're gonna get frostbite if you cuddle up to me now, you know. That's, actually, general warning for everyone — uh, don't touch me anymore! Unless you do want frostbite, in which case, hey, happy to oblige.
[ it doesn't seem like he's particularly upset about this, eyes still bright and cheerful, but his smile is somewhat tense. ]
[ Jack has been feeling strange lately, unsettled and off-balance, like he doesn't quite fit inside of his own skin anymore. he's been dealing with the drawbacks of his Homunculus nature for more than long enough to know that's a bad sign, so he decided to seclude himself inside of his home for a while just in case. it drives him stir-crazy, but it's better that than exploding into a ball of ice spikes in the middle of the street.
this particular day feels worse than any of the others so far, though. the cold that usually sits in a tidy ball inside of him is overwhelming; it feels like he can't even breathe (all he can think of is waking up strapped to a table, too little air, every nerve in his body searing with pain) and every exhale is mist and frost. it just makes him angry, suffocated, swallowed by this stupid thing, the stupid inescapable thing that he is. like he's caged, or trapped. the table. gasping, scared, Jack Frost—
sitting inside is too much to deal with all of a sudden, just making him feel even more claustrophobic and restless - the streets are still too much of a risk for him to take, so he slips outside and climbs onto a rooftop to sit there instead. space without having to put anyone else in danger. it also gives him more options for things to do, and he starts firing chips of ice across the rooftops as target practice, keeping his hands busy. that's all it is at first, anyway. the longer he thinks, the more it becomes an outlet for his frustration, spiralling down into rage, and he throws spikes instead. he doesn't remember when he got to his feet but it doesn't matter anymore, not when that messy tangle of cold and anger is surging up again.
the first sign that something is wrong - really wrong, not just the usual baseline Homunculus-wrong - is when, instead of ice, a great bolt of frost cracks through the air like lightning.
after that, everything happens so fast. Jack falls. he tips over the edge of the rooftop and then he's on the ground and heaving, sucking down air that he can't feel, clawing at his chest like he could tear his way inside. he winds up his knees, doubled over himself; it was what he'd always done on his own when the cold was too much, curled into a ball and tried to press it all back inside, but right now he does it because it hurts so much. the cold is searing and wild and all-consuming, a wintry blaze. the hollow space he carries becomes a hungry, ruinous cavern that opens up inside of his ribcage and sucks everything else right out of him. in that moment of panic and frenzy, Jack genuinely fears that he is being eaten alive.
he can barely lift his head to check the state of his surroundings (an alleyway, thank the gods, he fell into an alleyway) and honestly, he doesn't need to. even if he couldn't hear the crackle of frost crawling across the floor and the high-pitched splintering of ice spikes bursting forth around him, he would know. it may not be by his will, but the power is still being dragged out of him, he can feel every inch of it.
and it doesn't feel like it's going to stop. he doesn't even feel like a person anymore, just a fragile bundle of bones and too-tight skin, everything about him is wrong wrong wrong. whatever tenuous Mage-sewn thread holds him together seems like it's finally going to snap. ]
Go, [ he gasps out to his Pokémon, and they do, because they had promised him.
most of them linger around near the dead end alleyway to fret, to keep people away from the destruction, but Baby wastes no time in shooting off with a purpose firmly in her mind. Danny. Danny has calmed Jack before and he can be trusted, Jack trusts him. even if he can't help, surely he can do more than any of the rest of them can alone, because she doesn't know what's happening but Jack needs something.
it doesn't take long to find his house, and she flies straight for a window. ]
( VIDEO. )
[ Jack looks... tired, sitting on the floor of his room. and he's almost blue in certain places, around the eyes and mouth - not like an ordinary person in need of warming up, but like a corpse that's been left out in the cold for a good long while. that isn't the only difference; usually in video messages, he's curled up somewhere with his Pokémon draped all over him. for once, the majority of them are nowhere in sight, except for a Sneasel plastered against his front and a Froslass tucked into his side. ]
Soooo. First things first, I'm heading off to Sanctuary with Lux for a while. I'm gonna check up on the Homunculi there, if anyone else actually cares. [ that is definitely a bitter jab there. he's not at all happy about how the negotiations turned out after everyone made all those reassurances. ] Oh, I evolved just recently, that's another thing. If you noticed it get about ten degrees colder for a minute the other day, yeah, that was me. Kind of a weird experience, to be honest, and definitely not one I personally would choose to repeat! It might have been nice to get a warning about it? You know, just, a common courtesy, "by the way, if you haven't evolved before, you should know that it might feel like you're dying at first. But don't worry about it!"
[ evolution does not make his Homunculus body more stable, and because every part of him was completely unequipped to deal with the change, it was an awful shift that he's still adjusting to. he doesn't yet realise this isn't the normal experience that everyone has. ]
But on a slightly more pressing note, uh... Does anyone have a problem with not being able to touch things? Or people, or Pokémon - and I mean, ever. Because— this?
[ he picks up his familiar shepherd's staff, and immediately, thick frost begins spreading across the wood. the exasperated expression on Jack's face may be telling of the fact that he is not deliberately making this happen. ]
This is kind of a problem. [ a Growlithe comes shuffling into view to nose at Jack, and Jack gently pushes it back with his staff, laughing. ] No, idiot, I keep telling you! You're gonna get frostbite if you cuddle up to me now, you know. That's, actually, general warning for everyone — uh, don't touch me anymore! Unless you do want frostbite, in which case, hey, happy to oblige.
[ it doesn't seem like he's particularly upset about this, eyes still bright and cheerful, but his smile is somewhat tense. ]
1/2
[Which was entirely his fault for knowingly saying "fuck that" to his limits a little too hard, but that's a story for another day, or preferably for never.]
And like, the fire used to give me trouble sometimes when I got really worked up about stuff, but it's never been a problem all the time?
2/2
[He doesn't like it too much more than Jack does.]
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The ice might just be another great Homunculus control thing, then. Pros: Keep cold drinks cold! Cons: keep hot drinks cold. [ easier to joke than to consider how enormous this is; that he can never touch most of his Pokémon friends again. ] But evolving really didn't feel... bad, for you? Because to me it seriously seemed like the end of the line.
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[ the cheeriness has definitely tipped over the edge of "aggressive" into "caustic" by now. ]
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[He smiles, and sort of hates the feeling of it on his face.]
For sure. Life's full of those little surprises!
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[He can't even quite pull off pretending to be excited about it like he was back when his exploring meant something done the love of new things, and not something done out of stubborn, increasingly painful desperation to find something lost. "Exploring!" is kind of ruining half his friendships and possibly a fair bit of his future right now.]
video;
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I'll be fine. I'm not saying I'll be polite to them, but I'm not going to go crazy, if that's what you're worried about.
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[ Rincewind doesn't believe him. People had a tendency of saying one thing, but impulsively doing something else. It's kind of how impulse worked. ]
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[ he means it as a joke, although it comes out a little too sharp. ]
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I don't have one of those. A coat, that is. Now robes I can get behind- er- in, anyway.
[ possible snark is possible ]
Video
That's it. I'm going too.
[He hadn't wanted to go back to Sanctuary, not really. But, between Rincewind's foolish nature and Jack becoming even more of a walking natural disaster, he didn't see too many other options.]
....It's not much, but I could try to find a way to make your staff frost proof if you wanted. I'm not an Engineer, so I don't think I can help you with the rest of the problems.
Though, are you sure that a trip back home for you is a good idea right now? It won't be easy, and I'm not in the mood for cleaning up an ice storm.
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[ there's a careful emphasis on "to Sanctuary". it can hardly be called going back when he's never really been there in the first place, never seen it beyond the dark little lab where he woke up; and even if he had been further into the city, it would never, ever be home. ]
Thanks for the offer, but my staff's alright. It's just wood, it'll hold up to the frost.
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[It was a legitimate question. Waver had never met any Homunculi while he was living in Sanctuary, and he didn't think that they would be open with their affairs even on the street level.]
And what about everything else? There's more in the world than just your wooden staff. I'm not well trained, but there might be something we can charm to keep everything that touches you from freezing.
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[ there's no reason to address the possibility that the Magi won't let him see the Homunculi in rehabilitation. if they won't let anyone verify their claims, then Jack's promises of peace are officially over, and he'll try to tear through the whole city if he has to. ]
Well, yeah, if someone can come up with something like that it'd be great. We'd have to wait until we're back in Union, so we can... [ discomfort passes across his face just briefly. ] —run tests and whatever.
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....not that such an obstacle is worth stopping over. They're powerful, but the Magi are also disconnected from what happens at the street level.
[They, ultimately, could use that to their advantage.]
...
For yourself, you don't have to let anyone run tests on you if you don't want it. But, maybe you can find someone you trust to help you find a solution that consists of more than putting you inside a protective bubble.
( ACTION )
Cujo is the first one to notice the newcomer at the window from his vantage point curled up on Danny's bed, and lets out a bark that's two parts curious greeting, one part alert - "someone's at the window! hello!!". ]
Huh? [ Danny's head jerks up, the puzzled look on his face relaxing when his eyes land on Baby. ]
Oh hey, it's just Baby. What're you doing here? [ he pushes his seat back and stretches, while Cujo jumps off the bed to come and properly greet the newcomer, tail wagging the entire time. ] Don't tell me--
[ Danny was about to make a joke about Jack getting himself into trouble again or Baby needing help to reign in his crazy ideas, but then he caught a look at the floette - a proper look - and something about her seems to stop him in his tracks. thank you, Kindred Soul. ]
Hey, is everything okay?
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There's something wrong with Jack, he's hurting, he was doing okay and now he's not and we don't know what to do! [ she hadn't been with Jack those times when he lost his control during the arguments about Sanctuary, but he'd told her about them, and while he slips up sometimes it's seemed like he's been getting better on the whole. and now— ] He didn't feel well and he wanted to go outside, but he was worried he'd hurt someone so he went up to the roof to practise... Something happened, he used a strange attack I've never seen and he just fell, Danny, he fell off the roof, he was making these awful sounds and there was so much ice—
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Okay, okay, it's gonna be okay, I'll um-- [ distracted, he turns to his Pokemon before turning back to Baby. ] You can take me to where he is, right? Like right now? Nova and Cujo can come with, right guys?
[ Nova nods, determined, while Cujo barks in the affirmative. Danny's already shoved his chair to one side and rushed over to his wardrobe. he so does not have time for doors right now, so he uses his intangibility to reach through the door and grab his winter coat. honestly, he seriously doesn't have the first idea of what he's gonna do, or if there's anything he really can do, and he's trying not to panic about that, because screw that, he has to do something. he already knew about Jack's control problem, and the homunculus thing, but he hadn't really seriously entertained the idea of it winding up causing something like this. which wow, that was a pretty stupid thought in hindsight! ]
Okay, let's go!
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This way, he fell between the buildings— [ she darts back out his window and leads the way through the streets to the alleyway where she had left Jack. when they get there, she doesn't even need to say anything for it to be obvious where he is; the temperature in the whole block has dropped to an unseasonal chill, and there is frost creeping over the front walls of two adjacent buildings, jagged spikes and clumps of ice growing along the rain gutters. anyone that knew the slightest thing about Jack would know where to find him.
the boy himself is curled into a tight ball at the very back of the alleyway, shaking terribly and making high, wild sounds in his throat like a wounded animal. ice forms around him, either a coccoon or a cage, crawling steadily up his body, already halfway up his shins. huge spikes of ice sit in clumps along the ground and the walls, a great deal of them forming a protective ring around Jack's small, huddled form.
he doesn't look up when Danny and Baby reach the alleyway, barely aware of anything at all. ]
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Okay... come on Fenton, you can do this. [ it's muttered to himself more than anything as he walks into the alley, fingers fumbling with doing up his coat and pulling the hood over his head. ]
Jack! Jack, hey, it's Danny! Can you even hear me...? [ he gets as close as he can before the ice spikes become impossible for him and his two Pokemon to squeeze past, and bites his lip in worry. they're forming way too close to Jack for him to just phase through them to crouch near him. damn it, he can't even tell if the ice is trying to protect Jack, or kill him - he knows it usually shows up as a defence mechanism, but-- maybe it's both at the same time. ugh, he fell off a freaking roof, the homuncul-ice is probably the least of our problems!
at the kid's side, sticking close to his trainer, Cujo whimpers. ] I know, buddy, I know. Okay, okay, lemme think... I'm gonna need you to melt a couple of these giant dumb ice spikes so we can all get through. But uh, not too close to Jack, okay? I know you wanna help, but you're a Fire-type, he's an Ice-type, and I don't really wanna be scraping him up off the ground in a puddle.
[ it's a cruddy cruddy joke even by Danny's standards, but joking under pressure comes easier to him when he's worried about himself, or about circumstances around him. not about his friends. as Cujo starts work carefully using Ember on the two clumps either side of Danny, and Nova uses her Copycat to join in, Danny phases through the ring and drops to his knees next to the other boy, letting the intangibility drop as soon as there's enough space for him not to wind up with half a giant icicle going through him. ]
Jack? You're gonna be okay, I promise. [ it feels dumb to be making a promise like that when he's not even sure what's happening, but it's all he can think of to say and he wants to at least keep talking so that Jack's got a chance of knowing he's there. ] Hey, c'mon, the forecast wasn't predicting snow till at least November.
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Danny? What are you— [ he tries to scramble away, but he can't even back up to the other side of his ring of spikes; his limbs are so weak and shaky that as soon as he tries to lean weight on his arm, it gives way beneath him. the fall almost sends his head cracking against the wall. ] Y-you can't be here! What are you doing, what if I hurt you?!
[ one hand still claws, absently, at his chest. trying to dig its way inside his ribcage to tear out the cold, so much worse than an absence of heat because it comes from inside him; to fill the hollow space that has always felt so wrong, driven him to desperation so much more than the ice. ]
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[ he's honestly so relieved at just getting some kind of response or recognition there, but that's quickly overwhelmed by the sight of how totally scared Jack is, and all the frost that's still crawling up his friend's legs. Danny puts his hands up in front of him slowly, and doesn't come closer just to reassure him. knowing their luck, next time Jack really would crack his head off the wall. ]
Seriously, take a good look at me, I'm fine, you're not gonna hurt me. [ he mumbles to himself, jeez, talk about priorities... and then bites his lip. ] You just gotta- [ ugh, c'mon, what would Jazz, queen of the sometimes-actually-kinda-helpful psychobabble, say in this sorta situation-- ] You just gotta breathe, okay?
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[ it's followed with a quiet noise of pain, curling in on himself and clutching at his chest with both hands, his whole body hunching over to hold the pieces of itself together. somehow, he still feels split in two, caught between here and the memory of laying on the table; maybe that's it, that he can breathe here but he's still thinking of when he had woken up and he really couldn't because the cold was too much. either way, he shakes his head and insists: ]
I can't breathe, something is— something's wrong, I don't know what's happening to me. Everything hurts, and I-I feel... different. [ he says that he can't breathe, and he had been having trouble just a moment ago, but his breathing starts to even out as he continues to speak. in this instance, the distraction seems to help more than attempting to focus on the problem. ] There was this... this lightning that came out of my hands. And when I fell down here, after I told the others to go... I, I remember a bright flash?
[ now that he's sitting still with his face in clear view, Danny will be able to see smudges of colour on Jack's pale skin that aren't usually there, beneath his eyes and around his mouth. the colours are almost like bruising, but they're too blue for that, closer to the look of a person who is deathly cold. the other change to his appearance is his eyes - which are luminescent even in the light of day, where before they had only ever glowed in absolute darkness. ]
( VIDEO. )
The blond does her best to not look concerned, but at the same time... She wanted to ask if he would be all right traveling out there, and was doing her best to not telegraph that on her face. ]
I'd say it's a welcome change from the hot weather, but...
[ Okay, yeah, she was a terrible liar, and she couldn't hide her concern for too long. ]
Do you want me to ask Ezreal to make you a pair of gloves, or something like that? He may be able to figure something out that will work.
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Yuck, no. I like actually being able to use my fingers. Besides, this might come in handy, right? [ there is a beat, and then he snickers at his own unintentional pun. ] Handy, hah.
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She simply wouldn't acknowledge that pun. It was terrible, and while hard not to at least chuckle at, he does get a bit of a smile from her. Small victories? ]
You could still use your fingers just fine with gloves on. Although after a comment like that, I'm not sure you should be allowed to. You could be locked away for lesser word crimes, you know.
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[ and then his own response switches over to text, too. it is way too awkward to have a full video conversation with a bunch of faceless text messages, and he refuses to do it. ]
i don't care where they are, i'm going to find them
and if they're not ok then i'm gonna get them out
it could have been me in there, and the fact that it's not means it's my responsibility to help them
i'm not looking to negotiate with mages
the others are the ones that are gonna be handling that stuff
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seriously though? thanks, it'd be good to have something to work with
especially if sanctuary won't let us in to see the homunculi in "rehab", which i'm seriously doubting they will
video
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Besides, gloves are the worst. I mean, thanks for offering, but they get in the way of everything.
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I don't want anything heated near me, anyway. If I didn't have the freezing cloak Lucca made me I'd probably be dying right now.
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[Video]
[The medical center needs her.]
But in response to your issue regarding touch?
I am incapable of catching frostbite. [She picks up her own glass filled with water, not only does the glass get covered in frost, but the water inside freezes solid.]
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[ his joking tone falters a little, and he nods to the frozen glass. ] Do you... Does that happen when you don't want it to? Or are you controlling it?
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At first, I couldn't control it. But control is not impossible, if it is worked towards. I keep Archimedes, my Cyndaquil, with me to maintain the temperature around me for others, as that isn't something I'm ever able to stop. However, I can prevent freezing objects I touch.
But when I first evolved, I would freeze quite a bit while everything was still new. I can show you, if you like. No two people or evolution are the same, but you will never be able to hurt me with ice or water.
video.
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Though, heading back to Sanctuary might not be a bad idea to find information. We certainly haven't worked with anything like this in Union before. There'd be more about that there than here.
I hope you find what you're looking for.
Action at home.
There's a definite tinny quality to her voice, the sort of sound that comes out when she's worried, a weirdly modulated sound like it's coming down a metal pipe.]
Jack. Hey. You um...you okay? I mean...you look like hell, man.