2020-05-10 - Lessons

(TXT to Stephanie) Lucas : Hey you....

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : Hey Lucky. It’s been a while.

(TXT to Stephanie) Lucas : I hear your the reason I am alive

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : My job to make sure get people the help they need. The nurses and doctors at Addington Memorial are the reason you’re alive.

(TXT to Stephanie) Lucas : They wouldn't have had a chance without you

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : I’m glad you’re alive. It looked really bad when I found you.

(TXT to Stephanie) Lucas : The doctor said it was weird I had so many internal injuries and no external ones

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : Yeah, that was my fault. I panicked and didn’t think about that part when I tried to revive you with my healing.

(TXT to Stephanie) Lucas : A week ago I wouldn't have laughed that off

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : And now?

(TXT to Stephanie) Lucas : My opinion is a little more liberal on the existence of Magic

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : It’s a lot easier when you have someone you trust show you. My Mom was the one who taught me about the Supernatural energies around Gray Harbor. What had you come around?

(TXT to Stephanie) Lucas : Someone stripped me down with Telekinesis, while my girl friend was healing her of being stuck in a wheel chair

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : What the fuck? How was your girlfriend okay with that?

(TXT to Stephanie) Lucas : she wasn't exactly ok with it, it happened in the hospital, its a long complicated story

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : If you say so. How are you feeling? Are you back to 100%? Did anyone mention when you’d be cleared for work?

(TXT to Stephanie) Lucas : I got out a couple days ago, apparently I'll be cleared after one more check up this weekend.

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : Good. I’m glad you checked in.

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : It’s been a rough time for me lately. I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you or check in.

(TXT to Stephanie) Lucas : I am sure you were out saving lives

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : Sure. We’ll go with that...

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : Do you wanna hang out? Are you still obsessed with Mac and Cheese?

(TXT to Stephanie) Lucas : Isn't everyone?

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : Not like you were when you were a kid. That’s all you would eat when I came over to watch you.

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : But seriously, I’d like to see you. Are you up for coming over to my place?

(TXT to Stephanie) Lucas : Mac and cheese is the perfect meal, you can put mushrooms in it, or peas, or hot dogs or tuna, or hamburger, or onions or bacon it goes great with everything

(TXT to Stephanie) Lucas : I would like that, when do you want me to drop by?

(TXT to Lucas) Stephanie : Soon? I may or may not have a huge Mac and Cheese casserole with your name on it.

Lucas knocks on Stephanie's door, "Come out with the Mac and Cheese where I can see it"

Stephanie is at the kitchen just pulling out a sizeable casserole for just one person living alone. When she hears the knock on the door, she bounces over to open the door. "Mac and cheese's in the kitchen. Hi, Lucky." And as soon as Lucas steps through the doorway and closes the door behind him, Stephanie scoops him into a hug, squeezing gently but lingering, as if she doesn't want to let go.

Lucas wraps his arms around Stephanie, hugging her back tightly, "It's good to see you"

Stephanie seems calm and composed, her emotions pulled back from the surface as she pulls away from the hug. “Come on, Kiddo, let’s get some food.” And she ushers him to the kitchen.

Lucas makes it to the table, as Stephanie turns toward the stove he slips something out of his pocket, an undersized cloth bib, made for a child, he stretches is a bit around his neck, barely getting the Velcro to attach, the bib not even reaching the bottom of his sternum.

Stephanie turns back towards Lucas with the casserole to put it on the table and she rolls her eyes. "I can't believe you still have that thing." She chuckles softly, amused.

Lucas chuckles, "It was in the stuff my parents were throwing out when they were moving to Florida, I barely rescued it. I figured it would still have some uses"

Stephanie serves Lucas up a bowl of her mac and cheese, the recipe that includes bacon and ground beef. "So, how are you holding up?" she asks casually, still as calm as ever. It like would feel the way it used to feel as a child, Stephanie radiating an air of authority, but also an air of comfort and security. This after all is the one who had been there after his sister had gone off to college.

He smiles and digs in, "My ribs seem to be healing up fine, I don't think I grew a second appendix, so that is good. No new nightmares yet"

“That’s not just what I meant,” Stephanie points out, the voice of authority seems to come through more than intended with a hint of emotion Lucas can’t quite place.

He leans back and looks up at her with a little smile, "So what do you mean?"

"I was talking more about the Dream, and having your beliefs tested about the existence of your special abilities. Dreams can be really traumatic." Stephanie says this with a stern voice tinged with concern.

"Well I don't have much … experience with any special abilities so far. I've been told I can use the force to move some things, but I haven't done it yet, well outside of the one dream"

"But that Dream...how are you feeling after surviving it?" Stephanie is trying to gauge where he's at emotionally rather than emphasize his special abilities.

He shakes his head, "Like I was in a coma...it really didn't do any ...emotional damage... exactly...why?"

Stephanie bites her lower lip. "When you get...stronger...the more you get pulled into Dreams, the more you remember." There are now cracks in her composure from her own recent experiences. "I just wanted to know if it affected you, if you remember much."

He nods slowly, "I remember most of it I think, it was kind of trippy. We were in a beauty pageant there was a talent show, and a question and answer portion, and then the audience tried to murder us. I think some of the question were designed to disturb people, mine wasn't that bad"

"It's only going to get worse, now that you're being sucked into these Dreams. You need to practice." Stephanie says sternly.

"Practice what?" He looks at her leaning back in his chair a little.

"You need to figure out how to use your abilities. If you're being sucked into Dreams, you're either being targeted because of someone else's use of their abilities or you're not in control of yours. Control is your first lesson. And honestly, it was trial and error for me growing up." Stephanie explains.

"And how do I learn then? Just put on a blind fold and start swinging around with a broom?"

"It's about focusing and a clear mind. I know for a lot of people it's an emotional trigger that helps. Whatever the case may be, I would rather you try here and have me have your back in case something happens. There's no right way to do it."

"So I concentrate on making things float?"

"Yeah." Stephanie glances at Lucas. "We should do it in the basement though, in case things break."

"You don't want me going all Carrie on your kitchen china?" He smiles a little.

"No. Bad things usually happen in Dreams but sometimes, bad stuff comes into our world. It's happened to me in the past where some awful creature almost tore my ribcage out of my body while I was at the Addington House on a call," Stephanie explained, "We can contain the damage, contain the fighting in the basement."

"Do we need to be armed then?" He looks at her skeptically.

“You need to be aware. You can’t always be armed but you always have your mind and your abilities in case of an emergency.”

He nods slowly, "So how do we do this?"

Steph concentrates, and a nearby door opens, the door she is pointing at. It's the door to the basement.

He chuckles and rises, taking off his bib, and heads down the stairs.,

Leading Lucas down to the basement, Stephanie has a few thoughts about how he could go about trying to use his abilities. “This is all about exerting your will on an object. You just focus on it and make it move. I’m sure that in the midst of your stressful Dream, it happened because you just needed it to happen.”

She stops in the middle of a living room type space and she looks to him, then she points at a bookshelf full of books. “Try making a book move,” she suggests.

"Well in my dream I lifted a man away from a pregnant woman he was about to beat on with a baseball bat, So maybe it was like that stress adrenaline?" He puts his hand toward the book and makes a force push type gesture.....waiting.

“Focus. Think about where you want it that book to go.” Stephanie instructs Lucas as he gestures towards the book.

The books hurtles itself right past Lucas's hand and into his face with a satisfying WHOMP! sound.

With a soft chuckle, Stephanie comments, "That's not exactly what I had in mind, but at least you didn't break anything, including your face." She attempts to demonstrate a little bit of control and while it's a little shaky, she manages to move a picture frame with a picture of herself and her younger brother Jake. She moves the frame from its place on one shelf to the one below it.

Lucas looks sheepish, and holds up his hand again, this time trying for a downward motion at one of the books.

Stephanie looks to Lucas and says, "Try it a couple of times and then we'll take a break. It's likely not too smart for us to practice too much, considering our line of work tends to force our hands when it comes to the use of our Gifts. It's a fine balance between doing the right thing and self-preservation. Every time we use our abilities, it draws attention to us, attention from something dark and sinister. If you've gotten drawn into a Dream, it's likely because you've been unintentionally doing something for a while now. Limiting our Gifts is one to survive."

And with his downward motion, the book shelf slides forward, and downward, dumping the whole shelf of books on the floor, as it falls it hits the shelf below and tips it over too, Lucas looks at Stephanie like a 10 year old caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"It takes a while to get the hang of it but you can't practice too much or it gets you in trouble. But I figure if something's already dragging you into Dreams, this might not be so bad." There's a sigh as she watches the books fall. "Hey, it's all right, Buddy. It's the kind of thing that takes time. I've left this basement trashed for weeks at a time before. If it weren't for Jake, this place would still be a mess." She gives Lucas a reassuring hug, figuring that he might be a bit overwhelmed.

He nods and takes a moment to let out a long sigh then rub his head, "I don't think I've ever done this in a fire before."

"Well, telekinesis is the easiest one to kind of mess around with," Stephanie replies, "I kind of came across the healing on the job..." She seems kind of at a loss about how to work out the rest of his abilities. She adds, "Let's focus on one thing at a time."