video:

[charring]

[Charlie's at the park again. This time, by the way she leans away from her device, she's turned it on for a reason. She looks...different. Something about her just seems off and it's possible her eyes are just slightly greener.]

Toph, if you're listening, I have a question for you. Are you missing something?

[And she steps back and away from the device. She's barefoot. Which is probably very odd. She turns, now standing so that the device is at her side. And it's not a casual stance, either. Anyone who has ever watched her and Toph at Bending practice would recognize it but it isn't typical for Charlie. It's more Tophs way of doing things. Charlie's arms bend, fingers outstretch and the ground about two feet in front of her moves slightly.

Charlie's hands lift as does the earth in front of her until it's floating in a ball about three feet in diameter. The ball hovers for a few seconds and Charlie's hands move it again. There's a crack and the sound of rocks falling and the ball splits into pieces before Charlie lets it all drop. And there's a faint motion of her pushing down and the ground is even again. She heads back to the camera and picks it up.]


That's all I can figure out how to do for now. It's pretty neat. I woke up feeling off this morning and just thought I was getting sick or something, just the weirdest feeling of being disconnected from something. It took Phantom running out the door on me and me chasing him outside barefoot to figure out what was going on.

[A shrug. She doesn't mind so much, actually, and then the device is turned off. She can be found in the park, practicing with her temporary ability.]

Comments

[video]

[zipperbent]

[Bolin is just. Watching in fascination. To say that this is the last thing he expected to see is the understatement of the century.]

Charlie. Did you just earthbend?

[video]

[charring]

Hi, Bolin. Apparently so. [This time, her fingers are set closer together. She steps forward and jabs her hand down and across herself at an angle and the earth reacts, spikes cropping up in a row.]

Oh, holy crap. This is so cool. I mean, I can't want to get my fire back because I feel weird without it. But this is such fun.

[candothis]

[There is a tiny boy loose in the park. He has taken a break from running around and admiring everything to stare at Charlie's earthbending feats.

If his looks didn't give his identity away, surely the question he asks her--in Russian--does.]

[charring]

[And Charlie stops and just..stares. What.] Pavel?

[candothis]

[Wide-eyed curiosity turns into wariness. He switches to English, accent absurdly thick.]

You know me?

[charring]

You-- [Nope. She can't.] Would you---

[This is difficult as fuck.] You look familiar. We've met once before.


[She's going to hell for lying to family like this, isn't she?]

[candothis]

[Oh, Charlie.]

No. Faces, I remember.

[On the bright side, his tendency to bounce from one topic to another seems to have been with him forever.]

You moved the ground how?

[charring]

[DON'T JUDGE HER! She didn't know WTF to do.]

It's a mental ability. Sort of like a very specific kind of telekinesis.

[candothis]

[He nods quite seriously as if this explains absolutely everything.]

Alien?

[charring]

What? [Did he just...? Oh, right.]

No. Advanced human is probably a better phrase for it.

[She focused on the ground again, another smooth motion of her arms and hey! Earth-tent. She sits in the opening. It's big enough for more than one.] This is so much fun.

[candothis]

[She gets a slightly quizzical look--maybe his English isn't that advanced yet--before he sits next to her in the earth-tent. Being away from home and meeting a girl who moves dirt with her mind, apparently, isn't a big deal.]

Your name, please?

[charring]

Charlie McGee. [It's nicer in the tent.]

[candothis]

Charlie McGee? Good. [He brightens considerably and flops backwards to lay on the ground.] You speak English only? Mama teaches me, says I am bad at English after so much teaching.

[SIIIIIIGH.]

Physicists do not need English, Charlie McGee.

[charring]

Your English is fine. Take it from a native English speaker. [She grins at the kid. He's just as adorable as older him.] I speak a tiny bit of Spanish but not a whole lot to do anything with.

Pavel, do you like ice cream?

[candothis]

Spanish? You know swears?

[Because that's the first thing to learn about a language, obviously. He grins right back until ice cream is mentioned. Ice cream is serious business.]

Yes.

[charring]

I know how to say hello and ask where the library is. And the bathroom. No swears. [That she's willing to share. Son, she is not about to corrupt a minor.]

We should get some ice cream. It's the kind of day for it.

[candothis]

I know swears in Klingon. [He is proud of this and, if the language barrier wasn't so steep, Charlie would find that he knows much, much more than he should.

And then he looks absolutely devastated.]

No credits for ice cream.

[charring]

Yeah? I bet they're fun to use. [She shakes her head, holding a hand up.] I have it. Don't worry about paying for ice cream. It's entirely my treat.

[Video]

[destinedtobeunpopular]

[Whoa.

Whoa, that one's new. Sort of the... wrong element.]

Uhm. A curse, I take it?

[Video]

[charring]

Hey, gorgeous. [Yes, that's how she's starting her end of the conversation. She's actually in a good mood, all things considered. She again 'bends' more earth, a stretch of her arm and a slight shift of her foot, sending a row of short columns out before retracting them. At least she cleans up after herself.]

A power swap. I haven't figured out whose ability I have, though.

[This is what worries her.]

voice;

[beifongbandit]

Missing somethin -- Hold on. Is that what it sounds like? Did you just earthbend?

[ there's a tiny moment of panicky checking. ] Nope, not mine.

voice;

[charring]

Yeah. Well, then who...[Oh, she's so confused.] This is weird.

[video]

[zipperbent]

[he is silent for a very, very long time. he'd heard so many things about curses that they all jumbled together. what had Kazu called them? status effects?]

I'm an earthbender.

Except I couldn't earthbend this morning.

I could firebend, though. Which has never happened. Ever. I am not Korra, master of all four elements! Nor am I my brother. Who happens to be a firebender.

So.

[he says this all calmly, and yet his slightly wild-eyed expression gives away his feelings on the whole thing.]

[candothis]

Yes. My tutor knows them. [This is obviously a bad thing.

...And all is well with the world.]

Thank you! [And he barely knows Charlie, but he gives her a hug. Well, he hugs her waist. He can't reach any higher.]

[video]

[charring]

That makes you the second earthbender I know. And it also explains where my pyrokinesis went. [Huh. She watched him for a moment, also feeling a bit lost without her fire. But this earthbending stuff is so much fun.] We should get our abilities back around midnight. I hope.

[A pause.] Feel like coming to the park and giving me a few pointers? I'll do the same for you.