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

[arclightning]

[ Even though Mako has a little dragon of his own, it's hard not to be filled with a sort of awe on seeing such a large one.

Especially because it's changing size as easy as breathing, as far as Mako can tell. He can't help but smile, watching it get comfortable. ]

I don't know. Would've been handy when I washed up if I could actually waterbend, but no, you're right. We don't need any life-threatening storms on top of everything else.

[ Truly Diluc is speaking his language. Mako's still watching the dragon, but he looks at Diluc again properly when he says that last part, his eyes narrowing. ]

...hey. Your feel for temperature's off—have you noticed anything else weird? You sleeping okay?

[searingwing]

[Diluc snaps his head up and stares at him. He takes a second before he says,] No, I haven’t.

I have too much energy all the time. And ordinarily even if the power is foreign; I know magic. I imagine it’s the same for you.

The basic principles should be holding. [He places both hands flat against the table.] But even when I think I have it…something goes awry.

[arclightning]

[ Ah, hit something. That has to be good, in a way. That means Mako's onto something. ]

Yeah. Yeah, the same thing's happening to me. Getting some training in seems to help but then the training is about half-ice and me freezing things and that's getting old. And I just... have this.

[ Mako pauses, his brow furrowing as he looks again to Diluc's dragon, trying to figure out how to phrase this next part without sounding as... useless as he feels. ]

This feeling. That things are going to get worse. And if our abilities are messing up when they shouldn't be on top of all that?

I don't know. I don't like it. I'm not sleeping great, either.

[searingwing]

[There's a moment of silence as Diluc stares at the pot before him. He's had that feeling too. It's as pervasive as the sense of wrong he got from anything from the Abyss. And yet he didn't feel the pull of magic. Just that dread building up in his core.

The dragon watches Mako with bright gold eyes then lowers its head to puff out shadowy smoke. At last, Diluc looks up again, his brow furrowed and his concern in his eyes as he says,]

...all we can do is be as prepared as we can be. If our magic is acting up that might be a clue. The only one we have at present. There's so much to learn about this world.

[He briefly pinches just above the bridge of his nose.] To that end, I'll ask around and see if this has happened with Coldbloods before. One of us will turn up something. Even if we don't, we'll find out what we can rule out.

[arclightning]

[ With a crooked smile, Mako lifts up his notebook, already scrawled full of notes, largely about blood and power types, with lines drawn between a few of the words. ]

It's a lot to document. Was kind of hoping taking notes would make things seem less bad.

[ It didn't work, he doesn't say, because he doesn't really have to. After a moment, he lowers it again. ]

See if you can find any documentation on how coldblood powers work while you're at it. If there's anything we can use to make this go faster—it'll help the city stay standing, anyway.

[searingwing]

[He reaches down and pulls out a drawer. He drops a similar notebook onto the kitchen counter. Diluc moves the pot away and pours the water out. He washes the pot as he says,]

I’ll look into it. In the meantime, my elemental sight could be of use. I saw only three elemental traces in that pirate ship. Fire, ice, lightning.

[He almost shapes the words he would have used at home. But he has been training himself out of it. He will adapt. He dries off the pot and sets it aside. He moves like a man used to the kitchen and dealing with it.]

Since arriving I’ve walked these streets. I haven’t seen any other elements. Just those three. It may mean something or it may not.

I’ll ask around more as I look into the business side of this city.

[arclightning]

Elemental sight?

[ Color Mako very interested in both face and tone. It's kind of relaxing—homey, almost, watching Diluc move around the kitchen like he owns the space. Makes him more of a person and less of a rain-drenched phantom, light with fire and sadness.

Like they're at home. Mako can't shake the thought. ]

You can see, what, traces of elements? How's that work?

[searingwing]

[He picks up a knife he'd left in a wooden block and a cutting board. The knife is laid across the wooden surface as he steps out of the frame briefly. He returns as he says,]

I don't know how it works precisely. It's something that happens to those of us who receive visions. Not all of us can see with it. But, we can all sense the elements around us.
[He sets above preparing a meal with the ease of practice. Years of working with his father then claiming the bar as his own made cooking almost second nature.] At home that means another layer of the world is exposed.

But here and in Deerington...it has been different. But when I touched those weapons I sensed the elements in the blood on them. Then I could see the traces themselves.

[arclightning]

[ Cooking is such a comforting thing to Mako that it's hard not to smile. It's one of his better-trained skills, one of the things he's proudest of: proof he could provide for himself and Bolin, could make tasty things from nothing and stretch their meager rations early on. ]

Could you tell right away that the elements were in the blood? Has anything like that happened with other kinds of blood, or just ours?

And, uh. What are you making?

[searingwing]

An omelet with some cheese and bacon, nothing big. [It's light and he can leave half for Catra to try without it being too terrible on her stomach. He cuts up the bacon and sets it aside in a small bowl.]

...And no, I couldn't tell right away. I woke up without my vision. My companions remembered themselves faster than I did. But there's a sense...a bite to the blood that registered as familiar.

I've recognized other cold bloods but no other blood I've been around felt that way.

[arclightning]

[ How nice and normal.

Maybe it is alright to think of this place like home, no matter how sure Mako is that the other shoe is going to drop, and soon. ]

Ours might be the only elemental blood. That's good to know. The less of us there are, the fewer people are going to accidentally freeze themselves, or call lightning from the sky, or... something.

Forgot who I was for a minute, too.

[ It's lucky he had Wu there to remind him. ]

[searingwing]

[Diluc's hands keep going through the motions, checking the pan with just holding his hand over it as it heats on the stove. He can feel the heat beginning to build.]

Or burn things to ashes. [He says. But then he pauses hand moving closer to the heating metal.]

For now. Until whatever we're here for begins. But yes, I didn't remember who I was until I tried to use magic. Then it was like opening a door. One that opened wider when I found my Vision.

[arclightning]

What do you think that was about? The forgetting.

[ It's hard for Mako to wrap his head around the whole you're a part of this world and you always have been concept. He feels new and old at the same time, and that's a hard thing to reconcile. ]

[searingwing]

I don’t know. That I still can’t puzzle out. Or being…another shape before.

[Being a squid is something he can’t get past. He just can’t.]

[arclightning]

...yeah, I get you. That's what's tripping me up, too. I had all these theories about where we were going and what was waiting for us. It seems like some of them were accurate, but.

[ Mako grimaces. ]

I'm just not thinking about it. Let me know what you find out about the blood thing. You going to come on Wednesday?

[searingwing]

Yes, I will. I’ll be there.

[He stares at his notebook.] And I’ll let you know sooner than that whatever I turn up. If I turn up anything before then.