[closed] But if you lead, I'll follow

[its_dad_sanzo]

Who: Devero, Koumyou
Where: Spa Car
When: Just before the mission.
What: Hanging out and talking magic / having a magic lesson.
Warnings: Doubt it, but will update if needed.

You know where the boys haven't had a magic lesson yet, somehow?

The spa car!

Now that Devero is getting better and better at doing his exercises out and about where there is noise and distraction, Koumyou has suggested they meet up for something in the heated pool of the spa car.

It's not at all because he wants to lounge around in the hot water all day. How dare you?

But anyway, here he is, lounging in that pool with the back of his head resting on the edge, eyes shut in the steam, waiting for his big neomage to arrive.

The sacrifices he makes, really.

Comments

[subcircuits]

The tilt to Devero's lips as he enters the spa car indicates that he's on to you, Koumyou Sanzo. But he's also curious to see what Koumyou has in mind here, so he doesn't call him out on it-- yet.

"You look comfortable," he says instead, waving a hand at Koumyou even as he heads to the end of the car to change into swim trunks.

[its_dad_sanzo]

How dare you assume something that is entirely correct, sir!

"I'd better," Koumyou says sleepily in reply, "you know how I am in hot water."

Only two steps removed from falling asleep at any given moment when left to his own devices in it!

[subcircuits]

He chuckles, the sound as warm as the steam rising from the pool. "I'm surprised you're not asleep right now, honestly!"

[its_dad_sanzo]

That gets a lazy little smile out of the priest, under his closed eyes. "Maybe I am? You are quite a dream."

[subcircuits]

Devero must be getting better about accepting his finace's compliments, because he smiles and turns red and doesn't demur Koumyou's assertion. He finishes tying the drawstring on his trunks and slips into the water beside Koumyou, laying his arm behind the priest like a teenage boy trying to be smooth on a couch.

"This is a dream," he says, rubbing the smooth band around his ring finger with his thumb.

[its_dad_sanzo]

Koumyou sits up a little so he can lean into Devero's shoulder instead of back against the edge of the pool.

"Mmhm," and that's the extent of his reply for a good long, sleepy moment. His own swim trunks are a ridiculous pair he'd bought on Aquafir; the print is bright pink and covered in yellow rubber ducks.

The Seiten in scroll form is tucked into a pocket at his hip, which is an improvement over the train-issued trunks. It may even be a part of why he'd bought them -- but the pattern had probably played just as big a role!

"...I admit the magic lesson was mostly just an excuse to get you here," Koumyou admits sleepily, "we haven't done this in a while. But I'm also curious, have you tried to access your chi in water yet?"

[subcircuits]

Devero curves his arm around Koumyou and tucks him close, his standard purple trunks definitely boring next to Koumyou's pair. Of course, Koumyou's pair are so perfectly him that it makes Dev smile to see them.

"You know, you could just ask," Devero teases gently. "I come here to do yoga, like, every three days.

"But no, I haven't. Should I have been?"

[its_dad_sanzo]

"This is more fun than just asking!" Koumyou huffs, "Obviously!"

Duh, Devero.

"Mmm... I mean, it's not like it's something I've told you to do, but I was curious. It makes it easier, for me. So I'm wondering a little if it might for you, too."

[subcircuits]

He laughs. "Silly me!"

He's still smiling, but getting that serious mien that comes to him when he's focusing on something important. "...Huh. You know, you've told me before that you have a-- an affinity, I guess, for water." And shown him, too; Devero still occasionally rewatches the footage he took of the dragon Koumyou had made out of snow on their first date all those months ago. "It never occurred to me that I might too."

[its_dad_sanzo]

To be fair to Devero, it had been a very impressive snow dragon, even by Koumyou's standards. Using Devero's chi as well as his own -- and also not needing it in a hurry for combat -- had let him funnel far more energy than normal into the details, making every glittering snow-scale precise and perfect as it snaked through the air around them.

"You might! Or you might not. Either way's fine, of course. But there's only one way to really tell."

[subcircuits]

"I suppose there is, isn't there?" Devero pulls away from Koumyou, pushing off and gliding the short distance to the other side of the pool. He sits in full lotus across from Koumyou, resting his hands on his knees under the water.

He's ready, sensei.

[its_dad_sanzo]

That gets a quiet little laugh out of Koumyou, and he sits up straighter as well, pushing his bangs out of his face with one wet hand.

"Alright, so."

The priest holds a hand out over the water between them, as close as he can get without touching.

"You know how you light the bulb up? Try to do something like that to your palm, but then once the energy is there, pull it back. The energy and your hand."

In demonstration, Koumyou lifts his hand, and a glob of water comes up with it! And instantly falls back down, because this isn't about sustaining anything, just about getting the effect.

"It's like the tide. Out and then in."

[subcircuits]

He's been doing a lot of practicing with that light bulb, to the point where it's not uncommon for Koumyou to walk in on him sprawled out on their bed, just staring at the bulb with a little grin as he flicks it on and off, on and off with his chi. He's reached the point with it where he barely has to diagram out the pathway of the energy in his mind's eye-- at least with this one small, specific thing, that is.

This is going to be a much different thing. Devero holds his hand out over the surface of the pool like Koumyou, watching and listening with that intent focus of his. Like the tide, all right.

He starts the way he's learned to do it with the bulb, letting himself feel the core of chi energy inside himself. Then he envisions in his mind's eye the movement of that chi down his arm like a neural impulse or a signal from his Implant. He definitely, definitely feels it gather in his hand--

But when he lifts that hand, nothing happens. Not even a ripple in the surface of the water.

[its_dad_sanzo]

Just like that first time with the light bulb, Koumyou reaches out for Devero's hand. "I can show you?"

[subcircuits]

He puts his hand in Koumyou's without hesitation. "Please."

[its_dad_sanzo]

With a smile, Koumyou actually crosses over the little pool, too, sitting beside Devero again as he takes up his hand. He breaks roles for just a moment to lift and give the back of it a smooch, before he lowers it back down to just above the water.

The priest's other hand settles on Devero's shoulder. As with that very first demonstration of the bulb, Koumyou actually threads his own chi into Devero, this time up at the shoulder, and very slowly goes through the process that would normally take a fraction of an instant for him.

The chi builds, and builds, like a rising tidal wave as it goes down Devero's arm, into his hand, and stops at his palm where it would have flowed through his fingers into the bulb, before. Koumyou gives him a second to feel that, then simultaneously pulls the chi back just a little bit and lifts Devero's hand.

Just like before, there's a glob of water that comes with, like following a magnet. A weak magnet, because it immediately breaks and falls back into the pool.

[subcircuits]

It's easier now to follow the movement of Koumyou's chi as it flows through him. There's no mistaking the difference in how their energy feels-- Koumyou's deep as the ocean and with as much mass behind it, where Devero's is skittery and fleeting. Not that that surprises Devero, as untrained as his is; right now, he just assumes Koumyou's felt the same way as novice child in the temple.

"Your chi feels so... big," he murmurs, looking up to meet Koumyou's eyes.

[its_dad_sanzo]

Know what it's always a good time for?

"Are you flirting with me?"

Jokes.

[subcircuits]

Devero chuckles, his lips tilting. "Flirting with teacher? How inappropriate!"

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Good answer," Koumyou says cheerfully, lifting his hand from Devero's shoulder to give him a poke to the forehead, "besides... I'm engaged!"

Shocking news, he knows.

"But back to your point, I've been building my reserves for almost fifty years, you know? Everyone's starts off a lot weaker, bodies don't typically store much more than they need to function. Not without training, anyway."

[subcircuits]

Devero rocks his head back and laughs, rolling and joyful, at Koumyou. "Lucky guy!" he says with a grin.

"Makes sense," Devero says with a nod. "It's like training any other part of your body. A muscle's not going to be any stronger than it needs to be unless you build it up."

[its_dad_sanzo]

Koumyou smiles, and nods. "So, the more you use it, the more you'll have to use. To an extent, anyway. Remember when I got over-extended right after Erda? That was because I generate a lot less than I was using on that mission, but all my storage got drained. It's really quite slow to build back up again."

So, just like a muscle, it's about consistently using it and not just bursts.

"Anyway, did you feel how I pulled it back at the end, right as I moved your hand?"

[subcircuits]

"I remember," he says soberly. He remembers Koumyou setting the kitchen on fire, and barely being able to move in the immediate aftermath. That had been... alarming. "I'll keep that in mind."

He nods when Koumyou continues. "Yeah. It was like..." He trails off, but Koumyou will be able to feel his chi moving as he focuses on it. He replicates the movement of the energy down his arm, the charge definitely growing in amplitude (if not very much). His chi reaches his palm and he's able to keep it there, instead of it flowing immediately to his fingers, but after that it just... fizzles out.

He frowns down at his hand.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Whether or not you end up having an aptitude for water, this technique is different. So it will take as much practice as lighting the bulb did," Koumyou tells him after that attempt, giving him a little space again.

And getting comfy while he's at it, sinking back into the water properly with a sigh.

What? He may as well enjoy this while he's here.

"It's very different than just letting it flow out, right?"

[subcircuits]

Devero's attention is still focused on his hand, but he nods. "Very different," he says. "Let me see if I can get it..."

And so he practices. Soon enough he's gotten the hang of concentrating the energy in his palm instead of letting it move to his fingers. That part is straightforward. It's the pullback that he's having trouble with.

Finally he drops his hands into the water with a frustrated groan. "There's something about this I'm not getting."