Again... in a tree.

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan looked up at the moon as he sat on the low-hanging tree limb, leaning back against the trunk. A bottle of whiskey was held loosely in his hand, and judging from how much was gone from it, he'd been there for a while. He didn't move, didn't really seem inclined to do, well, anything, just sat there. Looking. And, oddly, shivering slightly.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"...Are you okay?" a familiar voice called from down below.

[Ryan Gabriel]

He took a pull from the bottle, but didn't look down. "Someone tell you to come look for me? Or am I just that obvious today?"

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"I think I could have smelled the whiskey all the way from the dorms...but I was just out for a walk."

She took several steps to the left so she could try and get a better view up the trunk of the tree. "Am I going to have to climb up there to figure out what's making you drink what smells like the cheapest bottle you could find?"

[Ryan Gabriel]

"It's whiskey. It all smells cheap," he said. But he did move, slowly (since he didn't want to drunkenly slip and break his neck) climbing off and lowering himself to the ground. "It's just one of those nights," he said, sitting down again with his back to the tree, making room for her to join him.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Just one of those nights does not," she said, grabbing the bottle away, and looking in alarm at how much had been drained, "warrant drinking this much. Plus you are awful at lying to me. What's going on?"

Steph sighed and sat next to him, her back against the tree.

[Ryan Gabriel]

"What's going on is that I fucking hate magic," Ryan said. "Remember all those Lemurians that think I stole something from them?"

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Magic is awful and only belongs in that game that Trev plays with John," she grumbled. "Yeah, I do remember."

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Yeah, well, apparently I really did," he said. He tapped the side of his head. "It's in here. That's what really killed that... monster that used to be a priest. I took what turned it into that creature, and without it, he just dissolved."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Okay...so you stole something...so where is it?"

[Ryan Gabriel]

"I already told you. It's... in me. It's not a thing, it's... some kind of magic... energy I guess." He shivered again. "If I focus, I can feel it in me. I don't know what it's going to do. It turned that priest into some monster. It could do that to me. I don't know if I can get rid of it without dying. I just... I fucking hate magic." He held his hand out for the bottle. "Drink it or pass it."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Steph looked at him, worried, turning to face him more directly. "How...how do you know this?" she said a bit of a quaver in her voice.

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Talked to Ms. Weaver," he said, like that explained everything.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Well....she...she's been wrong before," she said, a hint of panic in her voice.

[Ryan Gabriel]

"It might not be that bad," he agreed. "Or it might. I dunno."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Steph chewed her lip nervously as she looked into his eyes and then turned away abruptly, staring off into the woods.

Nope. Not happening. Not gonna cry...

She looked down at the bottle, the label blurring as she regarded it, and quickly brought it up to her lips, taking a long pull.

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan sighed, reaching out to slide his arm behind her, needing the comfort just as much as she did. "You know... with all the stupid shit I've done, I figured I'd have a lot more active hand in it if I'm going to go out."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"You aren't dying, it can't happen. It can't." she said her voice breaking.

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan looked over at her and decided that this wasn't the time to feel sorry for himself. He gave her a squeeze with that arm around her, leaning his head against hers. "Sorry. Last thing you probably want to listen to is me whining."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"You aren't whining. You have every right to be upset with news like that," she sniffled. "And I'm here to listen--you're one of my best friends."

[Ryan Gabriel]

He sighed and nodded, giving her another little grateful squeeze. "Thanks. I... I don't know. I wanted to come talk to you, but this is a lot of heavy crap to dump on an ex that you were a dumbass to. I just... don't know what to do now. I actually felt like I could get my life back on track again. Now... I mean, is there any point in even starting to try anything when this is hanging over me?"

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"I'm not your ex, I'm your friend who yes you did date, but there's a big difference." she said finally seeming a bit more composed. She turned back to face him after wiping her eyes quickly.

"If you act like you're dying and just shut down...then I don't know...it's almost like you're just ready to resign yourself to the idea rather than try to fight it. And we have to fight this. I've been in space, and in an alternate dimension, and in another person's body--at this point I have to think nearly anything is possible."

[Ryan Gabriel]

"And I get all that!" Ryan thumped a frustrated fist against the tree. Ow. "I mean, I could handle a Shi'ar attack cruiser dragging me back to Chandrilar and having to escape back to earth. I could handle getting dragged to evil negative-earth or even that hell place that the kids got dragged to last year." He thought a second. "Hell, everything there seemed afraid of me anyway. But I can deal with all that. This? I mean, how do I fight this? How do I outthink this?"

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"You let your friends help you. We're going to figure this out, come hell or high water. We have psychics, we have wizards, we have some of the most brilliant scientists on the planet. I don't know how we'll fix it but damn it, we're going to try. I can't lose you, Ry. I just can't."

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Pff... you'll be fine..." Not his most reassuring comeback, but then again, whiskey. "I mean, sure, we're going to try. Just can't beat some things, though, right?"

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"No I won't!" she said perhaps a bit more emotionally than she wanted to.

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan looked at her, his gaze softening a bit. "I..." A thousand things welled up in his head to say, but he couldn't sort through them. "We always keep coming back to that, don't we."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"...c...coming back to what?" she said, doing a poor job of playing dumb.

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan smiled slightly. But if she was going to play it like that... he wasn't going to embarass her. "You need me. I need you. Looks like neither one of us can quit, right?"

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"I do need you. You keep me sane, you make me laugh, and I couldn't ask for a better partner to teach power control," she sniffled.

[Ryan Gabriel]

"And you make me smile, you make me believe in me. I've never had a better friend," Ryan said. He sighed, leaning against her. "So if you need me, I'll try not to treat it like it's a lost cause."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"I do need you," Steph said as she threw her arms around him in an awkward hug.

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan hugged her back, as well as anyone could while mildly drunk and pushed up against a tree trunk. "I know, babe," he drunk-whispered. "I need you too."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

just tell him how you really feel...shut up. We're just friends and he has that new girl... Steph kept him in the hug for longer than was comfortable before letting him go.

"So...should I shift and let us reenact how we met?" She joked.

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Oh, I don't know... Do you have unstable molecule panties on?" He joked right back.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"No. Those things are uncomfortable and unless I'm feeling especially likely to wolf out unexpectedly, I try to actively avoid wearing them." she smirked.

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Then yes! By all means, let's do that!" Ryan said with a smirk.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Typical boy. Just trying to get everyone naked." she teased.

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Not everyone," he chuckled. He sighed, leaning back against the tree again (it was easier, with his head kind of foggy), then pulling her back with him again, keeping his arm resting over her shoulder.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Steph leaned against him contentedly. "We'll get this figured out."

Silence.

"So...who's this gorgeous ...French? girl you're hanging out with lately?" she teased.