Active Magic (TatlTails and othyrworld)

Clarisse just barely heard Flora's shout through the trees, but she could tell from what she heard that the fairy wasn't in immediate danger or anything. It was just a call for a break. Which Clarisse wasn't quite ready for, so while she did steer her way toward where the voice had gone, she did a little parkour through the trees on her way there. No harm in that, at least she hoped.

She was proven right when she finally reached the clearing Flora'd landed in, only to run into a scene outta one of those Ghibli movies. Flora'd grown a whole-ass sitting room in the middle of the forest, table and chairs and everything! There were even some blue flowers curling their way up through the planty furniture, settling into their spots right as Clarisse started to register everything she was seeing.

"Dude, this is badass!" She ended up stage-whispering as she carefully walked up to the scene, not willing to speak full-out in such a dare-she-say magical environment. She ran her hand over the table for a moment before finally letting herself sit in the empty chair, her body relaxing into it as her mind continued to race. "You put all this together just now?"
 
Flora smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I get a huge rush of endorphins after flights. It gives me the energy I need to make stuff like this happen." She gestured vaguely towards the scene with a self-satisfied look in her eyes. Her powers had been impressive in the past, but this was beyond anything she'd done before on such short notice. She fluffed up the pillow of daisies and let herself smile when it stayed together. This was good. She was good.

After a few seconds of soaking in self-praise, she turned her mind back to reality. Clarisse seemed so happy while she was running, and it was clear that she was nowhere near done with the run. "Sorry for stopping you. We can get going again in a few minutes. I'm sorry, but my wings are really sore right now and I need a few minutes." It was a tad repetitive, but she was exhausted and stupid from endorphins. She got dumb when she was high off flying, something Sequoia mocked her for.

Oh, damn. Sequoia. Flora would need to tell her about all this. The events of the night ran over in her head, sorting and arranging themselves into a detailed timeline. Sequoia wouldn't accept a story unless she could find out all the details.
 
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"Naw dude, I totally get it." Clarisse didn't even hesitate to reply to Flora's apologies, shaking her head at the fairy as she propped her feet up on the nearest little footstool. "Pushin' your limits too far does nothin' but screw up your muscles, and I ain't about givin' you long-term damage just outta bein' impatient. I've got all night to keep goin', so whatever you need, I'm cool with."

Flora legit seemed tired, Clarisse wasn't so cruel that she'd leave this chick behind just to keep running on her own. She might suggest leading Flora home if she didn't seem ready to go after a few minutes, but that was for Flora's sake just as much as her own. Girl was probably hella out of practice, pushing herself to her old limits would screw her up big-time. Which'd be a shame, because all of this time so far'd been pretty fun! Even the break was nice, in a sappy sort of way.
 
"Thanks a lot. I'll be fine in a couple minutes, though" Flora fluttered her wings experimentally. They were sore, but not too sore. She could fly quite a while longer if she wanted to and she really wanted to. Even if she was going to hate herself in the morning. If she thought her wings were sore now, she was going to be in utter agony when she woke up. The flight would have to end soon, much to her dismay. She just didn't have as much stamina as she used to.

That could change if she practiced more, but she already knew it wouldn't happen. Her hands were full readjusting to a normal life, so this was all but guaranteed to be a one-time thing as much as it saddened her. Maybe she could try to go on short flights in between the other events she wanted to try. Yeah, that could work!

After three or four minutes, she stood up. Her wings throbbed dully, but she ignored them in favor of stretching casually. A dull stream of energy thrummed through her veins. She was ready to get back in the air. "We can get going now. Thank's for waiting. If you start, I'll catch up."
 
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"Alright, sweet!" Clarisse grinned as she jumped to her feet, making sure not to show her fangs for more than a moment so as not to ruin the mood. "I'mma head west then curve back around, so if you get lost just follow that trail. See ya!"

That was all she needed, and all it seemed Flora would need, before she took off down another, even narrower trail through the woods. This one had a lot more bumps in the road, a lot more tripping hazards. Perfect for testing her reflexes and consistency in speed. It was one thing to just sprint into the wind and leave your worries behind, but it was an entirely 'nother thing to trust your body to get you through any situation before your brain even has a chance to kick in.

This was where physics mattered, torque and momentum and force and all that good shit. Shifting weight to keep pressure off the joints, building speed before a jump and slowing down before a turn, using the environment to absorb excess kinetic energy. All of it was automatic, but thought completely through at the same time. It was when Clarisse felt the best about herself, and trusted herself the most. Running set her free, but this gave her power. And at this point in her life, she needed some power that felt all her own.
 
Flora took of the second after Clarisse. She wouldn't stand a chance on the narrow trail, her wings would get shredded, so she took the high road by catapulting herself above the treeline and doing her best to follow the trail. It was kind of hard with the wind blowing in her eyes and it took up most of her concentration, but she was still having the time of her life. It wasn't quite as fun as before when she could lose herself to the freedom of flying mindlessly, but it was still wonderful.

She only had one complaint: The place where her wings met her shoulder hurt like hell. She hadn't given herself nearly enough time to recover- but she wasn't going to slow now. Flying became a pain laced rhythm as she did her best to keep Clarisse in her sights. Stopping right now wasn't an option. Stopping meant going home and trying to figure out her life and she just wanted to get away from all her problems right now. Her problems could fuck off and leave her alone because she needed some kind of respite. And at least this was a pain she'd chosen. A pain that she gave to herself and chose to keep. If she kept on flying, she would be fine. Her wings would get numb some time or another, and then she could keep flying and flying and flying.
 
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If Clarisse had heard a word of Flora's inner monologue, she'd be calling the whole thing off and bringing that girl straight home. But since neither of their minds worked that way, Clarisse kept on trucking through the forest floor, her hair glinting neon blue in the scant traces of moonlight. She made a big loop through the forest, pulling off a couple 90-degree turns and cool-looking curves to change her direction. It took at least another hour for her to tire herself out, but eventually she started slowing down and heading back toward the house. The moon was high in the sky by that time, lighting up the world in its football-shaped waxing glory. Not as much as a full moon, but plenty enough to light the way for someone above the shadows of trees. Clarisse was navigating the darker meadows just as easily as if she had all that light, however, making it back to the clearing with the house in record time.
 
Flora reached the house ten minutes after Clarisse, landing on the lawn with a sigh. She had lost Clarrise near the end of the flight and did her best to follow the trail home. Her wings felt like they were about to fall off and now that the endorphins had worn off she felt tired and cranky. And ready to collapse. The run had done what it was supposed to and exhausted her. A yawn forced its way out so she muttered some goodbyes and goodnights to Clarisse and headed inside.

Once she plopped onto the bed, Sequoia stirred in her sleep. Fuck. She soothed her friend with comforting sounds, sighing in relief when the girl stopped squirming and seemed to settle. She soon tucked herself under the covers, drifting off to dreamland a few minutes later.
 
Clarisse had waited outside until Flora landed, out of concern for her new acquaintence/potential friend. She figured the two'd just lost track of each other, so as soon as she spotted the fairy up in the air out in the distance she started trying to wave her down. Be a beacon or whatever, without getting too loud and waking everyone else up. She sighed with relief when the fairy landed, then immediately sent her inside because holy shit that girl looked exhausted.

Once she was sure Flora was headed to bed all safe and unharmed and shit, Clarisse headed down to the basement. She'd been spending half her free time since she got here reading through all of Madi's spellbooks, trying to teach herself everything she could about magic theory. It was slow going, but she learned at least one new thing every day... night... so she kept at it. After everything Flora'd taught her earlier, she had a whole new angle to approach her research. She knew already she'd be up 'til dawn reading through this...
 
Sequoia woke up entirely too early. The sun had barely begun to rise and she was wide awake. Flora was snoring beside her, something she only did when she was truly exhausted. Her hair had a couple leaves in it too. She'd been out last night, hadn't she? Sequoia knew she'd get the story as soon as her friend was awake, so she didn't worry too much about it.

She laid in bed for a couple minutes, trying to figure out if seep were a possibility. Spoiler alert: It wasn't. At all. By the time she got bored of it, she was practically shaking with the need to do something. Practicing magic was an attractive alternative. Setting fire to something could be fun. She hurried into the yard, hair mussed and clothes wrinkled. The yard wasn't even sunny yet. She cast the first spell that came to mind, rising walls made of earth. Spurts of fire soon floated across the yard, followed by bubbles of water pulled from the dew on the grass. The easily cast magic was a relief after yesterdays potion making session.
 
Luke was up early, like he was every morning. Usually no one but 'Reese was awake this early, so he was happy to have the quiet time on his own to let the sleepy fade. Yesterday'd been a little different because new people'd come to the house, but he had no reason to believe today wouldn't go back to normal.

Then he saw what was going on out in the yard, and it woke him up a whole extra chunk. Enough for him to shuffle out the front door and sit on the step, watching S'oya do a whole bunch of cool magic tricks. He didn't dare say anything, not until it looked like she was all done with everything. It was all so pretty, and she was focusing so much on it with her magic words and stuff. He didn't wanna scare her or make her stop.

When she really really seemed done though, he clapped for her and told her "Tha' was really pretty."
 
Sequoia jolted and all the bubbles of water that had been floating around the yard fell to the ground with loud splashes. She turned with fire glowing on her hands, ready to punch whatever intruder had come up behind her, only to find it was Luke. The fire was doused and she pressed a hand over her heart which was hammering wildly in her chest. Fuck. He scared her. "Jesus Luke, don't sneak up on me like that!" The barest hints of humor tinted her voice. Not the best way she'd ever masked her anger, but she was freaking out right now. A little credit for not blowing her stack and screaming incoherent profanity would be nice. "You gave me a heart attack!"
 
Luke's heart dropped the moment S'oya seemed scared, and when she got angry and made fire at him he pulled himself closer and tried not to shake. Fire was really hot an' really painful, he didn't want her to use it on him. She put it away before she used it, which was good, but she was still angry and scared and he tried really hard not to look too scared himself as she told him so. He gave her a heart attack...?

"I'm sorry!" He told her, wanting to tell her the whole time but knowing better than to say it before she was done speaking. "I'm real real sorry, didn't mean to scare you! Thought'cha was done, didn't know ya wasn't yet. Promise I didn't mean to scare you!"
 
When Luke started looking scared, started talking and apologizing and stuff, Sequoia felt herself deflating. She hadn't meant to get all fight or flighty and go fire fists on him, it just kind of happened. He must be beyond freaked out though. Wasn't every day that a nice guy like Luke got weapons turned on him. "Fuck. Sorry, Luke. I didn't mean to.." She scrubbed a hand down her face. Didn't mean to what? She'd sure meant to swing around with fists flying and she'd meant to yell at Luke. She'd meant to intimidate whoever was behind her and... whatever.

"It's fine Luke, really. Just... don't surprise me. Please. I might end up hurting you or something." Her voice was dripping with apology. A sickly feeling pooled in her gut, squeezing her stomach until she felt ready to vomit. What if Luke started hating her? Or worse, what if he forced himself to be friends with her even though he didn't want to?
 
Luke nodded at every request she made, his muscles slowly calming down again as he let out the breath he was holding. She wasn't actually angry, just scared. It just came out wrong. He understood that.

"Promise I won't surprise you." He told her, promising as hard as he could. "I don' like surprises either, I don' wanna scare anyone like that. No more surprises, wait for you ta see me. I can do that, do that for friend."

At least he hoped she still wanted to be his friend. She still looked pretty upset, and he knew he made friends with people too fast sometimes. But he just really liked people, and wanted to get along with them! S'oya too, if she wanted to be friends with him back...
 
Sequoia nearly cried in relief when Luke called her his friend. He didn't hate her! He didn't think she was some kind of flame fisted freak! It was nothing short of a miracle. She blinked rapidly, staving off the tears that were brimming at her eyes. Luke would really be freaked out if she randomly burst into tears because he called her his friend.

Once she had a firm grasp on her emotions again, something that only took a few seconds, she responded. "Thanks so much, Luke. You're honestly so sweet. I... Thanks so much. Really." She sounded like a babbling idiot. Not far from the truth, actually. Right now she was nowhere near stable.

After a couple seconds, she wandered over to where Luke was sitting and gathered him up in a hug. If she couldn't get words to express the things she wanted them to, she could probably get actions to.
 
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"Oh!" Luke wasn't expecting a hug. He'd been really happy S'oya was happy with his apology and called him sweet and stuff, because that meant she wasn't upset and was happy to be his friend, but the hug was a surprise. It took him a moment to get used to the surprise, but after the one moment he was happy to hug her back. She was a nice hugger, smelled like s'mores and that magic-y smell. He was okay with hugging her as long as she wanted to, so they both could feel better and start fresh.
 
While Sequoia was no expert on hugs, she knew Luke was an amazing hugger. He was warm and strong and he smelled like food and she felt so safe wrapped up right here. Hugs hadn't been a part of her life in a long ass time, even with Flora by her side. Flora was amazing in every way, but she hated hugs. Something about hands too close to her wings and feeling trapped. Sequoia understood but she couldn't relate. The only things she needed to be happy were friendship and physical affection.

After a few minutes, she pulled away, grinning like an idiot. She felt like that one actress, Sally Whatsherface, shouting ' You like me! You really like me!' in the buzzing hive that was her mind. "Thanks, Luke. This means a lot."
 
"Mhm!" Luke nodded back right away, pulling back from the hug as soon as S'oya wanted to. Her smile was so big, he couldn't help smile just as big as she was. "Glad, glad to help. Anytime. Any time I can."

Saying that gave him an idea. What usually helped him feel better after sad times, besides friends, was making food. And it was morning, and S'oya was here and had been sad, so...

"Wanna help make breakfast?" He asked her, rocking onto his toes for a moment. "Make somethin' for e'eryone, together."
 
"Hmm." Sequoia didn't think she'd ever made food before and if she had, she had no idea when. On the other hand, Luke was great at cooking and he was very nice. He could probably teach her what she needed to know. Besides, how hard could cooking be? You just threw stuff into a pot or pan or platter or whatever and let it sit in the oven for however much time was needed. There was fire involved though. No telling how badly she could mess up when there was any kind of dangerous heat involved. Luke wouldn't let her mess up too bad though. And there had to be a fire extinguisher somewhere.

After a few seconds of tossing thoughts around in her head, Sequoia decided to go for it. What did she have to lose? "Totally! Let's do it!"
 
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