Follow me on my path to the heights...

[joinmyreunion]

Magic training was going better than reading, so far. Even had told him that was only because magic training had tangible results, whereas reading wasn't something that you couldn't do and then suddenly could. Kadaj had lost his temper with a book, once, shoving it away as if it had personally insulted him and telling Even he was just incapable and this was stupid.

Even had been calmer about it than Kadaj had expected, but he also hadn't let him give up. Instead Even had taken him to what he now thought of as the magic training room and let him work on his base level spells. Wind was still giving him trouble, but his ice spells had come along well, and his earth and fire spells had actually become pretty good. The good thing about training with magic was that it forced Kadaj to get a grip on his temper; when he was tired or frustrated his casting became weak and sloppy, like his chakra control, so he'd had to learn to regain that focus when he'd lost it.

Then Even had asked him to explain what it was that he was finding difficult about the specific part he was trying to read, and 'I don't know' and 'It's just stupid' wasn't an acceptable answer. Following the words with his finger hadn't helped, so Even had covered up everything except the line he was trying to read with blank paper, and that had made it easier for Kadaj to focus on the words he needed to read.

He'd tried to refrain from losing his temper since, but Kadaj got the feeling that Even had figured out how to tell he was getting frustrated before he got to the point of taking it out on the book. Reading was now bookended with magic practice, and broken with it if needed.

Kadaj still wouldn't say the reading was going well. He still had to read aloud, tracing his finger along words, or covering up the rest of the page if he was really struggling, but it was more than he could do before. He just didn't like that he was still struggling along like that, rather than sitting back, holding a book in his lap, and reading in silence. He might never be able to do that, and he'd have to come to terms with that.

They'd stopped reading for today, thankfully. Kadaj was open with his relief about that. He'd gone to Even for his help, but he found reading practice more exhausting than magic practice, and infinitely more frustrating. It was only the fact that he'd gone to Even for help that kept him coming back. They'd put the books away, and then gone to the magic training room, which had been warded and protected so that the rest of the Palace wouldn't be able to tell what was going on in there, in addition to the protections Even had put in place in the rest of his lab.

Kadaj stood in the usual place, one hand resting on Souba, and glad of the change of scenery. He was hoping to start moving on to the next level spells, now that he had the first level ones down for, well, almost all of the elements.

Comments

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj entered the kitchen shortly behind Yylfordt. He could feel Even's reiatsu even before he'd got close, despite the fact that Even kept a good lid on it, so when he came through the door he gave Even a glance and a faint nod and smile. He flashed a similar smile towards Nel.

"Except," he said, addressing Yylfordt's complaint, "I don't like coffee, so I'd still come here."

[jawmask]

Grimmjow considered whether they really needed a coffee machine in the Sunhouse. It might be nice, but...

"We couldn't have one," he pointed out. "The Sunhouse ain't powered. We'd need an extension lead."

The Sunhouse, being made of glass, ceiling and all, had no need to be wired in. As a recent discovery, there had been no time nor any efforts put forth to add outlets to the walls. There weren't even any lights beyond candles when it got so dark that they couldn't see after the sun went in on a cloudy night.

[cierva]

Apache walked behind the boys, hands in her pockets. She didn't mind getting out of the sunhouse occasionally, but it would be nice if they didn't have to emerge for something as mundane as coffee.

"Shame we don't have anything like an Al Bhed capable of making one up," she said, mock-gloomily, in reference to the cable. "Oh, wait."

[thechillyacademic]

Even looked up as he felt the group approach. He gave Kadaj a smile and a nod and raised his eyebrows at the lingering look from the Al Bhed of the group, Szayel's brother, but said nothing of it.

"Well, if you're sure," he said, returning to his conversation with Nel. "I wouldn't turn down an offer like that."

[palehornedprince]

"I'm short on materials for that kind of thing, bro," Yylfordt said, throwing a glance at Apache. "Don't have the right thickness of wire." He shrugged. He didn't fancy jury rigging what he did have into something that might be able to do the job either, because if he misjudged the capacity of the materials, or the power sucking needs of the machine on the end of it, Kuja was gonna be damn pissed with him for burning the Palace down. "Best case scenario, what I have now would trip all the electrics." He grinned, a little meanly. L would probably prefer the Palace to burn down rather than lose all his technology for a few minutes. "I could pick up the materials the next time we're out, though."

[soundfivebitch]

Tayuya groaned as she listened to the conversation between Yylfordt and Apache. If Apache wasn't really careful, she was in for an extensive lecture on the various properties of different types of wire, which was probably fascinating to Al Bhed dickheads, like Yylfordt, but painfully dull to everyone else.

She caught the tail end of Even and Nel's conversation, on account of deliberately earwigging.

"Offer like what?" She asked, butting in without a care. She was still on the fence where Even was concerned, but in front of Nel wasn't the time and place to go challenging him about teaching Kadaj magic. Tayuya liked Nel, considered her a friend, even, but she was still Aizen's number three, and her loyalty to Aizen was probably greater than her affection for Kadaj.

[declaregamuza]

Nel smiled at Tayuya, but there was a hint of warning in it. Where Even was concerned, Tayuya was antagonistic at best. "Even needs some things," she said, pleasantly, "so he's coming with me the next time I go shopping."

Not, her tone said, under the polite cheeriness, that it's any business of yours. She wasn't in the mood for Tayuya starting a fight, but it was good to see that Grimmjow and Yylfordt did little more than cast glances at Even, now. Kadaj seemed to have progressed from distant animosity to half companionable pleasantry in the wake of Hojo's announcements, too. Maybe that was what was having the impact, but Tayuya, Nel knew, was stubborn.

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj listened to the exchange as he retrieved cups from the cupboard. With the exception of himself, they all went for coffee. Personally, Kadaj always found it too bitter, unless you added too much sugar, and then it was sickly and bitter.

"Anything we can help with?" He asked, as he turned from the cups and towards Even. He could guess at what some of the things he wanted might involve; his labs weren't really labs, yet, and even the office he used was a bit sparse. Even probably had a lengthy list of books and equipment he wanted to procure so he could study whatever it was he planned on studying.

As well as helping Kadaj, along the way.

[thechillyacademic]

Even watched Nel answer Tayuya, not missing the stiffness in her words. It seemed as though Grimmjow's girlfriend was just barely resisting turning it into an argument, or a challenge, and Nel's answer, while polite, was full of warning.

He turned to Kadaj when he spoke. "Oh," Even said, shaking his head a little bit, "I don't know. I need some equipment, but transporting it is going to prove difficult, even after shopping for it."

Scientific machinery and paraphernalia were both expensive, often large, and difficult to come by. Trying to get it down into the desert palace wasn't exactly going to be easy.

[jawmask]

Grimmjow looked between Nel and Tayuya and Kadaj and Even. Tayuya, in spite of what Kadaj had said earlier, was still more than a little prickly about the Ryoka, he noticed. Well, she did always take a little while to warm up to people, but at least she wasn't starting fights with him any more.

"Might be worth it," he said, turning back to Yylfordt. "If we could get a coffee machine, anyway."

He didn't care overmuch about the light situation. Candles worked just fine in quantity as far as he was concerned.

[cierva]

"Can't you just buy 'em ready made?" Apache asked, all about convenience.

She knew it was possible to get leads of that nature back on Jylland, where electrical generators were commonplace, but many places in Spira still relied on less advanced, magical forms of power, so she wasn't entirely sure how readily available they were.

[palehornedprince]

"Yeah," Yylfordt said, but it was the sort of 'yeah' that had a big long 'but' attached to it, which soon followed, "they're easy enough to get in places like Dalmasca, Home, Bancour," he shrugged, "parts of the Empire, but different countries have different standards for voltage and plug type, and even though we're in Dalmasca here, the stuff we have comes from all over." So it'd really depend on where they were feeding it from, and what they were planning to plug into it.

He grinned at Grimmjow. "Which means we're better off picking the machine, first, bro."

[joinmyreunion]

"If you need things shipped in, we can always pick them up," Kadaj said, glancing over towards Yylfordt and Grimmjow. They were the ones who controlled the Ragnarok; Kadaj couldn't transport much on his bike, monstrously oversized as it was, so they'd have to agree, but Kadaj didn't expect that they wouldn't.

It was always a good excuse to get out of the Palace, anyway.

[soundfivebitch]

Tayuya scowled as Kadaj made an offer on the behalf of all of Skite, eyeing him grouchily.

She didn't, however, argue. This was Kadaj putting aside an old spat and making allies in Khamja, she knew. This was also Kadaj finding an excuse for them all to get out of the Palace again for a bit, on official business that had minimal chance of them running into Ryoka berserkers and so on, which was the sort of excursion they really needed more of.

She folded her arms, giving Even a sour look before she offered, "If it's scientific equipment you're after, I know the suppliers my old boss used. They're good at discreet." Her tone suggested she wanted to be swearing with every word, but she gave Kadaj a sideways glance after, as if to tell him there, she was making an effort to be nice to the fucking Ryoka bastard.

[cierva]

Apache grinned at Yylfordt's explanation and gave a nod. That made sense. Equipment was standardised in Jylland, so it was less of an issue, but Ivalice was different. She'd already noticed that the numbers of pins in plugs varied between the Palace, for the most part, and what she'd seen in Archades.

When Tayuya spoke up, she looked over, looking surprised that she was addressing the Ryoka without including any death threats.

[thechillyacademic]

Even listened to Kadaj but, before he could reply, Tayuya spoke. He raised his eyebrows when she did, and wondered, nearly cruelly, how much dignity that halfway pleasant offer had cost her. She, of all of her group, clearly despised him, but here she was, trying to make an effort for ... Kadaj's sake, if he was any judge.

"It is, and discreet would be ideal," he said, choosing to respond without any trace of the smugness he was feeling. "If they don't have what I want, I can always make adjustments..." he added, half to himself.

Well, Spiran technology may need a little tweaking to suit his needs, but he didn't imagine that it would be too difficult.

[jawmask]

Grimmjow looked away from Yylfordt and at Tayuya, Kadaj and Even. He resisted the urge to snort at her trying to seem nice, but appreciated the gesture, mostly for Kadaj's sake.

"We could all go out," he said, sounding nearly reluctant, but speaking before Even's last words had any chance to sink in where the Al Bhed of the group was concerned, "we'd probably be allowed without threats if Nel came with us."

That and it would be easier to pick up the correct equipment if Even was with them, instead of getting a list from him following a window shopping trip with Nel and risking picking up something wrong.

[declaregamuza]

"Mmm," Nel murmured, giving Grimmjow a smile, and covering her amusement at Tayuya's considerable effort well. "I suppose I could ask Aizen," she said.

He wasn't likely to refuse, mostly because some of the Arrancar helping one of the Ryoka scientists was the sort of tentative alliance that he'd approve of. Marluxia and Lumi were another matter, but Even fell into the same category as Ienzo, and having Arrancar that had befriended him of their own volition would be a good thing in Aizen's eyes.

Though he might, as Nel did, wonder about the implications it held for Kadaj and Even's friendship status. Apparently, Kadaj held Even in high enough regard that Tayuya was biting her tongue and trying very hard to be... less nasty.

[palehornedprince]

Yylfordt looked over at the rest of the group, Kadaj, Tayuya, and in this case, Nel, and shrugged. "Sure, we can get a coffee machine and stuff to make it work while we're there."

Szayel would probably have some things he wanted for the infirmary, too. He always did.

He frowned, though, his brain catching up with his ears. Make adjustments? Then again, maybe he hadn't worked with Al Bhed tech before and he'd been making do with the hume made stuff, it depended on what he'd had access to up to now.

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj smiled again, and muttered a quiet, "Thanks," for Tayuya's benefit. She held grudges worse than anyone Kadaj had ever known, so swallowing that must have been hard for her.

[soundfivebitch]

She only nodded at Even, unable to bring herself to continue being pleasant to him out loud today. She'd done enough of that, for now.

She turned to Kadaj long enough to hiss, "You fucking owe me," to him before she went to go and stand by Grimmjow's side, her arms still crossed.

The things she did for a friend.