strangetrip | [EP] Frustration of a Caged Animal

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[EP] Frustration of a Caged Animal - OTA

It was Max's fault, really. She had shown him what freedom looked like back home in Seattle and he had gotten used to not having to follow orders or be stuck within the confines of a complex like this. Had she just left well enough alone, he might have at least been okay with the routine here.

Deciding he needed a snack, he walked over to the vending machine filled with chocolate bars and chips and inserted a coin. Nothing happened. He pressed the retrieve button and still, nothing. He gently shook the machine and still nothing. Frustrated, Alec turned to drive his elbow into the glass to break it. Extreme? Maybe. But he was sure it would be satisfying too.

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After clapping her hands over her mouth, Corbie managed to keep to giggling instead of braying. "Oh you poor baby," she said, her eyes bright with amusement.

He made a pouty face to her. "You get turned into a cat and see how you like it." He had wanted to catch mice so bad, it was embarrassing.

"Can't imagine who I could piss off enough to have to," Corbie volleyed back, her mouth full of candy.

He wanted to say 'hey, it could happen!' but it probably couldn't because she was super likable.

"Next time I get turned into a cat, I'm going to come and shed all over you."

Corbie grinned at him, entirely unthreatened. "Next time you get turned into a cat. I'm gonna laugh really, really hard. And then I'mma cuddle you."

Well that made him pause for a second, then grin. "Well now that might actually almost convince me to let Lillith do it again to me." Playfulness hung on his voice.

"Mm..." Corbie popped the last of her candy in her mouth and smiled, crossing her arms... under her breasts. "Cats make for good cuddling."

Alec decided if he ever was turned back - and he hoped he wasn't, but - he would use this opportunity to go find Corbie. Decision made.

"You want any more to hoard in your room?"

"Hell yeah," and Corbie didn't hesitate a second before just taking more candy. "Though I also wanna clean up the glass that got everywhere."

He paused. Did she... did she mean him too? He looked at her and felt guilt. Ugh.

"Yeah, I should help, huh?"

"Find something we can dump all the glass in," Corbie promised, "and I can handle the rest." She was almost completely certain she could pick up all the glass magically, but she hadn't tried that specific thing before.

Alec managed to find a discarded ice bucket from near the ice machine and brought it back over. "Are you sure? If you bleed I'll end up feeling bad."

"I'm sure," Corbie said. She took a deep breath to center herself and blew it out slowly before lifting a hand. It happened slowly; flying glass was nothing to trifle with, even if magic-wise it was simple. Carefully, making sure not to miss even the tiniest shard, her spell scooped up all the stray glass and lay it carefully inside the bucket.

Alec's eyes grew wide and he was speechless for a moment. "Did you.... Do you - how did you -?"

"Magic," Corbie said simply. Until all the glass was gathered, that was the only word she said. When she was satisfied, she gave him a shy smile and said, "I'm a wizard."

His expression went from surprise to wary to confused to intrigued to wary and then back to intrigued again.

"Can you turn me into a cat too?" Which now had pros and cons, like cuddles.

Corbie shook her head. "I dunno how to do that. And even if I did, Felix taught me not to touch people with magic. Least not without their permission."

Something clicks for a moment in Alec's mind. "Can you... uh, touch-touch people with magic?" Yeah, his mind went into the gutter pretty quickly.

Corbie gave him a look out of the corner of her eye. "Not sure where you're going with that question, but if you're asking have I tried seducing you with magic or something, answer's no."

Alec was thinking of less practical things that involved manipulate of body parts without actually having to touch, but he tried to push those thoughts aside as he cleared his throat again and shook his head a bit sheepishly this time. "Nope. No. You're pretty good at doing that on your own, don't worry."

"Still kind of at the beginner end of things," Corbie said with a little smirk. "I don't think you want me handling your squishy, dangly bits with uncertain magic."

He seemed to consider, as if weighing the pros and cons, lips pursed, before nodding his head in agreement. "That's probably fair." But something she could work up to.

"Seems like a lot of people here have magic."