oorah | 💚💀 ( sixthiteration contact ) 🎉♖

[ that gives him pause, by whose metric indeed? he shrugs as the trap door comes open and he glances over at her before jumping down into the space. it's reminding him more of those treehouses as he goes, the hair on the back of his arms raising in a way that has nothing to do with gifted abilities. on the surface, aretha is braying her fool head off and frank sighs as bruno tries to hop in after him. ]

Can you hang onto him? Did you guys touch anything down here?

[ not like they have forensics anyway, but he lifts things with the toe of his boot or with his sleeve wrapped around his hand anyway, just in case. he doesn't know okay!!! ]

What? No. [ Jess keeps the animals at bay, shooing them off forcefully. she tries not to use her hands, in case she sends a blast off and accidentally kills one of them, so it's a lot of adamant kicking and stomping until they get the picture. Aretha won't shut up until Jess explicitly snaps at her too, then she huffs and switches to pacing around. then Jess is finally free to crouch at the mouth of the den and appreciate the peculiar gingerness with which he's handling stuff. ]

Having fun down there?

Not really. [ he admits, but the whole thing is so... weird. all the little bunks definitely look slept in. there are minimal personal effects, but enough food stores to last a while. ]

I'm guessing they'll abandon this now that we found it. But... [ they should probably stake it out anyway, right??? ]

[ no creepy photos or etchings of Jessica were in there, which was most of her concern. she's still happy with what's not down there. ]

The network will know soon. There'll be more than enough eyes on it in case they come back. [ Jess hunkers down, ass to the ground and legs hanging freely opposite the ladder. dirty chunks of snow and slush drip from the soles of her boots. ] I think it's more likely they'll be foraging, since they had to leave the food behind.

[ he hums, for once just... agreeing. this could be someone else's problem, if they let it. he makes use of the ladder this time on the way up, satisfied with his look around. her face swims in closer with each rung he takes and by the final one he's smiling next to her. ]

Ours would just be... extraneous then. [ aka they can do something else with their time. ]

[ there's a five dollar word in Franks if she's ever heard one. Her crooked grin isn't going anywhere and she's moved beyond noticing it. she jams her toe into his side, below the ribs. ]

This whole trip was extraneous. [ she'd still call it worth taking. Jess peers southward, one leg swinging idly. ] We could poke around the ghost town. We're in the neighborhood.

[ frank twitches at that kick, but again doesn't pretend like it even registered for him though usually he'd probably play it up for the drama. he tips his head to concede her point. ]

Maybe, but it was your idea. [ just for the record and all. he looks over her shoulder towards the village and shrugs. ] Why not?

[ personality transplant or not, apparently he'll still follow her lead on just about anything. ]

[ she tents her brows at that. no, it was his idea, she just didn't feel like waiting for him to have it. she gets to her feet and wipes sticks and debris from the back of her jeans. they're going to need a legitimate wash after this. ]

If this energy power is the kind of thing that gets pent up, I probably should figure out how to let some of it off. [ in the empty village, she won't have to worry about attracting attention or harming anyone. ]

[ frank plants his hands in the spot jessica vacates and leaps to his feet too, the dogs immediately flanking him on the way away from this weirdo place. he closes the trap door behind him so further debris won't contaminate the space, maybe. or just because it seems like the thing to do. ]

Does that mean you'll try it? [ he sounds way too excited about this, shoving his hands in his pockets and nudging in close to her while they walk. ]

[ she shrugs nonchalantly ]

I don't want it to get the jump on me like the bubble did. [ and end up hurting someone like she hurt him. energy blasts sound harder to walk off than an invisible shoving shield. ]

Good thinking. [ just light praise, no manipulation behind it for a change, intentional or otherwise. ] We'll wreck some shit up.

[ and for a change, she doesn't reel against the compliment. it skates by safely unacknowledged. ]

How exactly do we use these abilities on purpose? Think happy thoughts about them? [ bc this could take her a while ]

Uh... basically? I just envision it happening and... it does. Usually.

[ Her teeth flash through her briefly blooming smirk. ]

How do you envision a sixth sense for danger? Don't answer that. [ she's taking his advice regardless. ]

Oh, that one's basically like breathing.

[ but for all the other abilities he'd had, it was as simple as a switch. his teal powers had always been on, until now. he gestures for the dogs to stay so he doesn't accidentally bubble them over like he did to poor bruno this morning. ]

Send it my way. [ he calls once he's ten feet back from her or so. ]

[ every trace of amusement is gone from her face as easily as that, replaced by almost wholesome bewilderment. she kept on walking, figuring he'd catch up or stop her and fill her in, and has had to turn in her tracks. ]

What? I'm not gonna fire at you.

Why not? I have a forcefield. [ this makes perfect sense to him, wow!! ]

How do you know it works like that? [ no one's ever volleyed pure "energy" at her. did he witness it repel blasts for another red? ]

Uh... I mean, what else are forcefields for?

[ he thinks about the bubble expanding, and the snow ripples under his feet, expelling it in a perfect circle around him. ]

Come on, what's the worst that could happen?

I could blow my boyfriend's head off! [ Jess yells a little louder than the distance necessitates, but definitely not more than the situation does. she shakes her head, shifts her footing and points to the broad side of a ~~barn~~ house within several feet of him. ] I'll aim for that.

I'm your boyfriend?

[ but he glances to the house behind him and decides he can work with that, waving for her to do it already. ]

Cool.

[ a muttered "oh, shut up" is her answer to the former question. Jess is aware it's the band and its corresponding effect that's influencing her not to get caught up on the wholly accurate details, so he should be too. he'll go back to "some unspoken thing" when she's good and red again.

Jess squares her step and takes a breath, visualizing her hand adopting a glow like Danny's. nothing happens. she gives it a shake and elevates it, palm squared at rotten edifice. her eyes narrow with quiet effort but she gets the same result. Jess huffs, closing her fingers into a fist. maybe that will collect or concentrate the energy she isn't feeling there? no dice, off the bat. ]

[ oh that was anticlimactic. hmm... ]

Maybe, like a gun...? [ of course he would have that suggestion, twitching his trigger finger in demonstration. ]

[ it's worth trying, by the barest margin. Jess feels silly doing it and is going to assume that's why it didn't work, in this particular case. ]

Let's try this. [ she moves her arm clockwise, to a three o'clock angle from his twelve noon. there's a dilapidated pile of partially devoured wood, riddled with termite tracks. Jess inhales and shuts her eyes, envisioning Frank where he isn't and diving into the full brunt of her annoyance with him , because why would positive emotions factor into this? a tingle develops in her fingertips. Jess tethers her wrist in her free hand, not unlike an accidental and fairly poor Weaver stance, and tips herself over the edge by considering the dry spell she spends a lot of time not considering and how monogamy sucks and she sucks and -- the blast knocks her back a step from the sudden load and discharge.

a shallow crater lined by splinters and broken boards has replaced the target pile when Jess opens her eyes. too damp and cold to burn, the unburied earth at the centre is scorched but nothing is aflame. ]

Holy shit.

[ his eyes widen and then he laughs in delight when the blast goes off. the dogs are running over to inspect the damage even as he tries to shoo them away. ]

That was awesome.

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