video; un:mako

[arclightning]

Uh, hey. Mako here.

[ Nailing it so far, right? Mako's standing in front of a half-blue, half-green wall, dotted with small lunar sconces. Everything looks kind of dusty and half-finished, and the watery afternoon light illuminates yet more dust drifting around him.

Notably, a small dragon, red-scaled and content, is draped over his shoulders like a scarf, watching the Omni with bright eyes.

Mako glances momentarily off the screen, mouths something, and then looks back, clearing his throat. ]

It's come to my attention that a lot of you have been setting things on fire left and right since we washed up here. Obviously, this is dangerous to you and the people around you. If that's you, you need to make an effort to control it immediately before something worse than singeing your clothes happens.

For those of you who just washed up, I'm a firebender. That means I can do—

[ He holds up his left hand (scarred with strange marks) in front of himself and splays his fingers, making a small puff of fire appear and hold over his palm. It flickers there like a candle flame, dancing between Mako's fingers, before he drags it in a small arc and lets it go out. ]

—that, and—

[ Another flick of his fingers, this time producing little purple-bright sparks that zap between the tips and then dissipate. ]

—that. And a lot more.

So. If you need help learning to control your powers, and you do, come to the Raccoon Room in Cellar Door on Wednesdays. You'll see the sign. I've been doing this since I was a kid. Anyone else who wants to help, feel free to drop by too.

[ Finally, he looks up, his serious expression dropping just slightly. ]

Trust me. If a bunch of snotty six-year-olds back home can learn how to do it, you can.

[ The little dragon huffs in agreement, fire puffing out of its nose, and Mako reaches forward to cut the feed. ]

Comments

[measuringdicks]

Cool, so basically there's no getting them out. Fuckin' thanks. [Ughhhh. Okay. Richie sighs and runs a hand through his hair, and works to get rid of the grumpiness in his voice when he next says:] Did you ever accidentally set something worse than a roommate's bag on fire?

[A beat.]

I haven't, by the way, but the way things are going I'm pretty fucking worried.

[arclightning]

You want me to get your hopes up with some snake oil solution? That's all I got. Don't scorch things.

[ He's really gonna have his work cut out for him as a teacher if this is his attitude toward messing up. Mako will learn.

He also sympathizes. ]

When I was a kid, I accidentally burned a hole right through my mom's favorite robe. It was the only thing she had left from her mom, I think. Something important like that. Tried to cover it up with some jewelry thing.

[ It did not work. ]

I thought she'd be mad, but she just started teaching me to really bend after that. This is the same thing: you just have to learn to control it. You're a smart kid. You'll pick it up before you hurt somebody.

[measuringdicks]

I'm trying really hard not to scorch anything, why d'you think I'm coming to you?

[But he relaxes after that huffy response, listening to Mako talking about his mother and her favorite robe. He mulls it over, then sighs again.]

You must be real flexible, then. [He couldn't resist the snark. But he gets serious now:] I don't want to. Hurt anyone by accident, I mean. Especially not Eddie or my friends or any of the people who're gonna be coming into the clinic, and probably doing it soon. And I'm not gonna lie, man, I really don't like not having a handle on this. The other superpowers I got the first time I got dragged into a different world, I knew how to control immediately. This? Is new.

[And fucking scary.]

[arclightning]

Yeah, well. You're right to not like it.

[ Not going to beat around the bush here. Mako will tell Richie the same thing he told Varian. It's too important not to. ]

Fire is dangerous. Easily the most dangerous of the elements, and the hardest to control. You need to learn, or you could hurt somebody, and you will. Alright?

Look—if you want, you can come by now and we can run through the basics. Just how to put flames out, at least, so you can avoid burning any more of your roommate's un-replaceable stuff.

[ He heaves a little sigh, his shoulders dropping. ]

I get it. It sucks to not have control over something this big, and learning it is... hard. And it takes time, and it feels like you don't have that time. You're not doing this alone. Seems like a third of the city's in this boat with you.

[measuringdicks]

I know, I know. [There is a distinct note of bratty teenager in there, but there's also the sound of movement, of a coat being snatched off the rack.] Jesus, you don't have to tell me fire can fuck people up like nothing else, I know all that already.

[The problem with being smart and knowing it is that sometimes Richie can be more irritating about it than he really ought to be. Still, he's not stupid, it sounds like he's doing as Mako asked—in the end, he really does know the danger of being ignorant about this new ability of his.]

Like—fucking everyone suddenly woke up with fire powers? [A guffaw over the line.] Holy shit. And nobody's burned a building down yet? It's a fucking miracle, someone call a priest.

[arclightning]

Hey, you'd be surprised. The city's burn wards are always full of firebenders who forgot that fire's dangerous and can hurt you.

[ This is just a fact of life and also his own older-brother instincts, he can't help it. ]

It's not everyone but it seems like at least a quarter of everyone so far and that... can't be good. For the city. Or any of the buildings. I'm trying to intervene before anyone gets ideas.