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

[onerthes]

More or less, yes. I have no access to my spells now, at all.

[She sighed and smiled over at him, shrugging.]

A little jealousy is one thing, but I am not jealous of what they are experiencing. Magic was a skill that I was taught over years of my life. The kind of loss of control that they are facing is a different sort of thing entirely. it is as if they have the spells, but they do not know how to use them at all and cannot turn them off.

[arclightning]

Yeah, it's pretty weird. New benders aren't like this, either—the hardest thing for us is figuring out how to actually, you know. Bend. It doesn't just spontaneously happen like this.

[ That is kind of beside the point here. Mako doesn't want to pry, exactly, but... ]

...you really okay with that? Not having your magic?

[onerthes]

So, for your people, it is a learned skill as well, even if there's a talent to begin with. They are not subjected to sudden and explosive encounters with the power that they now wield.

[She frowned, scratching her chin.]

It really is a bit like Gwen's world. Where mutants gained these things as teenagers. It's distressing.

And, to answer your question I am "accepting" of this fact, in part because that is what I am faced with and I can't change it, and in part because I know that I will have to adapt. If I sit and fret about the inability to hurl lightning, I may miss something that can be far more valuable to all of us. I... do miss that connection, but I don't have the time to allow myself to wallow in the feeling of loss. there's too much to do.

[arclightning]

Not usually. Especially with firebending. It's hard enough to make, much less to maintain long enough and hot enough to set something on fire. There's a reason most of us learn by controlling existing fire.

[ In other words, Mako is very slightly out of his depth. He smiles quietly, though, at Vira's words. ]

That's the smart way to approach it. Feelings just drag you down when you have other stuff to focus on.

[onerthes]

And because I had a hint it might happen, I think I was a bit more mentally prepared than some are for changes in the powers they wield. Slightly more prepared.

What you said, though, that is sort of the problem. For me, I am accustomed to the idea of using a spell to invoke the elemental force and then exerting control. You start with existing fire. It's not the same as someone randomly sneezing and suddenly their desk is on fire.

...

I'm trying to figure out ways to explain control to them, but it's hard in some cases. Breathing exercises to calm the mind only go so far.

[arclightning]

I mean, don't get me wrong, untrained firebenders definitely set stuff on fire without meaning to. It's just not that easy to make on purpose for most people, and the control is exactly the problem. That's what they need to learn most.

I'll... figure something out.

[onerthes]

I wouldn't be at all useful with Fire, but if you find anyone with a penchant for Thunder or the manipulation of Earth, I might be able to help them. Spell or no spell, maybe something I've used will help.