Jean-Phillipe and Darcy - powers training
Mar. 4th, 2022 12:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsDarcy needs help with developing her new powerset, and she goes to the resident expert in electrokinesis. Jean-Phillipe enjoys teaching, even if his style does tend toward stern Jewish grandfather for reasons...
Darcy shoved her hands deeper into the pockets of her jacket as she stepped onto the back porch, toque pulled low over her ears as she joined the man already standing out there. She'd layered as smartly as she could, unsure of how much of her body would need exposed to keep it safe but unwilling to risk the frostbite that would surely land her in medical if she went out in short sleeves.
"Thanks for being willing to help me with this, Jean-Phillipe."
Jean-Phillipe nodded from where he stood, hands clasped behind his back. There was always something of an intensity to the Frenchman, but there was something else in the way he held his body "De rien, Darcy," he said before indicating a table where he had laid out several items, the first of which he picked up. "So have you been able to determine yet what your limits are in terms of voltage and amperage?" he asked.
"Not really. I didn't realize it was me until Amanda said something. So far.. I build up static pretty badly, and I've managed to fry my phone and give myself some surface burns when I forget to discharge and get shocked. Nothing's been set on fire yet, that would've been.. bit obvious, maybe. The lights are somewhat reactive to my emotional state. Mostly flickering or getting pretty bright before dimming back to normal, but I popped a bulb the day she figured it out." She looked over the items on the table, curious. "Is that some of what these are going to test?"
"Vraiment," Jean-Phillipe murmured, settling into the role of teacher quickly. "Your power responding to your emotional state is not surprising, mine does occasionally despite years of practice with it. Adrenaline can push people beyond their limits in many ways, and adding mutant power to the mixture creates another dimension of that." He smiled, and turned back to the voltmeter in his hand. "But the first thing to do is work at establishing baselines - how much energy you can produce comfortably, what your upper limits are, and so forth." His eyes flicked to a textbook at a corner of the table. "Also expect a significant amount of reading on electrical theory in your future."
Darcy followed his gaze, taking in the book. "Give me something to do on the subway when I'm heading to work," she replied. "Walk me through this testing? I'm not familiar with.. needing to touch something? So I'm not sure what I'd need to focus on to have it come up." Touching someone's mind seemed different to focusing on maintaining an electric current, but she supposed some of the ideas would translate in practice.. not that she'd done much of that before.
Jean-Phillipe held the device in his hand and visibly concentrated, the digital readout slowly ticking upward as he did. "With energy projection, and especially electricity, touching things is the easiest way to project, and thus the best way to start. There is a reason 'air-gap' for sensitive electronics is a practice - air has a large amount of resistance to overcome." He stopped and handed the device to Darcy. "This is a voltmeter - voltage is a measure of electrical potential energy, which is why batteries often have their capacity measured in volts."
"Makes sense. So I touch it, and concentrate on that crawling feeling under my skin coming out of my hand, instead?" She held the device with a firm grip, muttering half under her breath as she tried to focus. "C'mon, work with me here." The numbers rose steadily, the crawling sensation she'd mentioned lessening as the number got higher. When the number hadn't changed in several seconds, she tipped it towards Jean-Phillipe with a nod.
"Around a hundred volts sustained, that would make sense," Jean-Phillipe observed. "American wall electricity is generally at one hundred and twenty, so a brief surge at a higher voltage would explain the burst light bulb." He flicked a switch on the side, and the numbers changed. "Think of voltage capability as your internal battery. What is often more important when doing something with electricity is the amperage. For instance, it can take as little as 30 milli-amps to cause heart fibrillation. And by Ohm's law, voltage is equal to the amount of current multiplied by the resistance in a circuit." He held his fingers apart and jumped a spark between them. "So metering your power is about understanding that relationship."
"My taser's about 3.5," she offered, actually understanding what he meant from a combination of using one as her primary defense for so long and getting a crash course in improvising science with Jane. "And it hurts like hell, even if you only get a partial jolt." Darcy rubbed her arm in memory, a stark reminder of exactly how dangerous she might be if she didn't train herself up, not that she planned on skimping her training this go round. She'd learned that lesson painfully enough the first go. "Like not being able to spark my phone anymore because the case for it is designed to stop things like that? The resistance is higher than the ah.. strength of the charge?"
"Yes, just so. If voltage is amount of charge, potential, then resistance is what keeps that charge from moving through a circuit. And amperage is the measure of the rate of flow." Jean-Phillipe smiled. Being able to pass his own knowledge on to benefit another with similar powers was a rare joy. It helped that Darcy seemed to intuitively grasp the concepts, and thus made the task easier. He tossed an incandescent bulb to his student. "So, understanding all that, and being able to sustain around a hundred volts, you should be able to light this bulb without bursting it, nu?"
"Ikh veys nisht," Darcy replied without thinking as she processed the information, then blinked up at him. "Redstu Yidish?" She took a seat on one of the chairs, tucking her legs under her and holding the bulb loosely cupped in her hands. "I'll do my best, though." She took a few deep breaths, focusing on the buzzing just under her skin. Steady flow, not a surge. Steady... steady... the light flickered weakly in her hands. "Not quite..." The light went out as her concentration broke, and she calmed herself again, eyes dropping shut as she visualized what she wanted. The light slowly lit back up, wavering for several seconds before emitting a steady glow.
Jean-Phillipe nodded encouragingly at the glowing bulb in Darcy's hands. "Only bits and pieces," he answered her question. "Sometimes Erik would slip into it, and since he was the one who taught me how to use my power..." He smiled, preferring to remember fonder, better times rather than the conflicts that had happened more recently. "I suppose it is natural that it would come out while I am teaching."
The light wavered as Darcy tried to focus on keeping it lit while talking about something that had the potential to be a bit of a landmine. "Enough to know what I asked, at least. I don't know much myself, but Gran's the same way. Mostly English, bit of Yiddish, bit of German." A last flicker, and the bulb went dim in her hands. Better to ler her concentration lapse than to have it explode around them, she figured. "Was he a good teacher?" She took a deep breath, focus split between the bulb and Jean-Phillipe's words, and watched as the bulb gained a steady but dim brightness.
"He was." Jean-Phillipe looked off into the middle distance, momentarily lost in memories. "Whatever else Magneto may be, he is a very good teacher. Knowledgeable, and able to communicate concepts at a easier level." He blinked and then came back to Darcy. "Hopefully I can manage at least somewhat as well as him."
"I think you're doing fine," she replied with a small smile, rubbing the back of her neck. "The apple didn't roll that far from the tree in that respect. You could give most of the scientists I've worked with a solid lesson in explaining concepts simply but not condescendingly." She twisted in her seat for a few seconds to stretch, then settled back against the chair, bulb lighting faster and wavering less before settling. "How long would you like me to try and sustain it?"
Jean-Phillipe pondered the capacity and control Darcy had demonstrated thus far, looking for a reasonable expectation that would also push her limits slightly. "Let us aim for five to ten minutes," he decided, holding up an old-fashioned analog stopwatch. One habit he had picked up from Magneto was an appreciation for older, well-made items. To be fair, he had also learned to appreciate well-engineered systems from Scott, and this was both. That it would not react poorly to his power was an added benefit. "I will keep time, you just concentrate on the bulb." That way she couldn't simply let up once she passed five minutes.
"Would you mind telling me more about his teaching and your learning while I concentrate? I like learning more about people, and sitting in silence is not my greatest strength." Darcy knew she'd end up practicing alone as well, and was already trying to decide which tunes would be best for focusing concentration for now and which would inspire her to get up and move and split that concentration later. "Also, is the stopwatch a practical or aesthetic thing? I dig the retro vibe, but your phone should have a clock function for that." She gave Jean-Phillipe a cheeky grin, unable to resist the bit of teasing.
A low chuckle came from Jean-Phillipe. "A bit of both," he admitted. "The mechanical stopwatch is less likely to be subject to any issues from ambient power usage from either of us, but the aesthetic is certainly part of it as well." He clicked the watch as Darcy began to light the bulb in her hands. "Magneto can teach just about any powerset just by virtue of the breadth of his experience, but obviously he is most comfortable with those involving the electromagnetic spectrum." It came up quite frequently, and even if an energy projector was not strictly electromagnetic, the principles would often be similar. "He very much is the sort of teacher who expects you to learn the theory behind things, the whys and hows of it. For someone who flies, basic aerodynamics. A telepath, neurobiology. And for me, Ohm, Maxwell, Lorentz, Faraday..." The names of the pillars of electromagnetic theory flowed easily from his memory.
Darcy made a considering noise. "I probably could've used that sort of... I don't want to call it hard-ass, because it makes sense to understand the whys and hows as well as the practice and control when it comes to our abilities... intensity, maybe, when I first arrived." The past was just that, however, and she wouldn't repeat that mistake. "Never too late, though, so I suppose I will also be getting comfortable with Messieurs Ohm, Maxwell, Lorentz, and Faraday. That would explain a lot, assuming his teaching style is emulated down the ranks." Brilliant and potentially all the more dangerous for it with their current outreach. She shoved those thoughts down as she noticed the bulb getting brighter, focusing on the here and now.
"One does one's best," Jean-Phillipe assured her. "And I still have some of the books he suggested I read in my room, so I would be happy to pass those along as a starter set." His eyes flicked to the stopwatch, then back to Darcy. "But he also encouraged me to cultivate my own curiosity, branch out and discover things for myself, so I will certainly pass that on to you."
"I would appreciate that, thanks." She gave Jean-Phillipe a grateful smile. "Theory and measured experimentation, then branching out based on personal curiosity and interests? He sounds like some of the scientists I know. It's always fascinating how the curiosity and what if thoughts can lead to interesting and exceptional solutions to various questions." The light seemed dimmer in her hands, and she couldn't be sure if it was a concentration lapse or if she was just tired. Darcy focused on the bulb, on a tiny stream of power being consistent, and the light flared briefly in her hands before going dark. "How'd I do?"
A click and a twist of the wrist allowed Jean-Phillipe to show Darcy the face of the stopwatch. "Six minutes and fifty-four seconds," he announced. "An excellent starting point." He pursed his lips and considered if there were any other useful data points that could be gained in a first session. "Are you able to affect electricity that is not your own?" he asked as a thought came to him. He held up a hand, power crackling between his five fingertips much like the interior of a plasma ball.
"I'm not entirely sure what you're asking." Darcy leaned forward at the question, eyes alert as she watched the power crackling between his fingertips. "Like jumping a car battery? Connection's there but it needs a little supplement to get going? I haven't tried anything like that."
"Essentially, yes. But let us save that for the future." Honestly, just the limits and endurance testing were a good wrap-up point, Jean-Phillipe felt. "And given that you are now likely possessed of the famed 'mutant metabolism' with an energy power, how do you feel about adjourning to the kitchen and discussing nutritional needs?"
Darcy uncurled from the chair, gripping the arm tightly as a wave of fatigue passed through her body. "Whoa tired," she replied, letting it pass before attempting to move again. Food sounded good. Sleep sounded better... and if she got a whole night without nightmares out of this, maybe she'd be working on the endurance part every night before sleeping. Or most nights, at least.
She gave Jean-Phillipe a smile once she felt stable, letting go of the chair and taking a few uncertain steps. "Yeah, we should probably talk about that. I've started keeping an extra protein bar in my bag in case I have an outburst, but having a solid idea of what's useful when is probably a smart idea."
Jean-Phillipe nodded. "It is a very important thing. I do not recommend completely depleting yourself without food around. While it may not be the same for you, the way my body creates electricity means that if I completely tap myself out, it can cause short term neuromuscular issues." The caution was delivered matter-of-factly, because while it was not something he liked to speak of, lending others the benefit of his lived experience outweighed his discomfort.
"That could be pretty damn bad," she agreed, already thinking about asking Jubilee for tips on hiding snacks on her body when carrying a purse or similar would be too conspicuous. "Do you get hit with a wave of fatigue as a warning, or have a noticeable drop in consistency of the strength and flow?" She was fairly tired, but was that a stamina issue that would change with time, or a warning from her body that she was pushing too far? Knowing the warning signs that other people with similar powers exhibited could only help her keep an eye on herself.
"Consistency can drop slightly as I deplete my reserves," Jean-Phillipe said. "Numbness in the fingers and toes, generally." He wasn't sure what sort of effects depleting himself multiple times might have on his physiology, so he did his best not to push those limits too hard.
"That sounds like nerve issues, which I definitely want no part of if I can avoid it. Makes work harder." Darcy leaned against the counter beside the sink, uncertain if Jean-Phillipe had plans for them to cook or just heat something up. "I'm guessing something is better than nothing in a pinch as far as food goes, but have you found that certain things work better than others for longer-term?"
"It is similar enough to general metabolism needs," the 'teaching' tone was back in Jean-Phillipe's voice. "Carbohydrates for long-term energy, sugary items to stave off a crash, and so on." He went rummaging through a cupboard. "Essentially, a similar balance to what you already eat, just scaled upward."
"Well, that'll be nice for getting food at Betty's a few extra times a week and indulging my inner carb gremlin," Darcy joked, grinning at Jean-Phillipe. "Are we making something specific, or are you just trying to figure out what's available?"
Jean-Phillipe made a slight noise of annoyance. "The latter, but nothing in there looks appealing," he decided, moving to the refrigerator. "Ah," he hummed with satisfaction after plucking a large plastic container out. "Leftover fried chicken?" he asked Darcy, opening it and passing it to her.
Darcy shoved her hands deeper into the pockets of her jacket as she stepped onto the back porch, toque pulled low over her ears as she joined the man already standing out there. She'd layered as smartly as she could, unsure of how much of her body would need exposed to keep it safe but unwilling to risk the frostbite that would surely land her in medical if she went out in short sleeves.
"Thanks for being willing to help me with this, Jean-Phillipe."
Jean-Phillipe nodded from where he stood, hands clasped behind his back. There was always something of an intensity to the Frenchman, but there was something else in the way he held his body "De rien, Darcy," he said before indicating a table where he had laid out several items, the first of which he picked up. "So have you been able to determine yet what your limits are in terms of voltage and amperage?" he asked.
"Not really. I didn't realize it was me until Amanda said something. So far.. I build up static pretty badly, and I've managed to fry my phone and give myself some surface burns when I forget to discharge and get shocked. Nothing's been set on fire yet, that would've been.. bit obvious, maybe. The lights are somewhat reactive to my emotional state. Mostly flickering or getting pretty bright before dimming back to normal, but I popped a bulb the day she figured it out." She looked over the items on the table, curious. "Is that some of what these are going to test?"
"Vraiment," Jean-Phillipe murmured, settling into the role of teacher quickly. "Your power responding to your emotional state is not surprising, mine does occasionally despite years of practice with it. Adrenaline can push people beyond their limits in many ways, and adding mutant power to the mixture creates another dimension of that." He smiled, and turned back to the voltmeter in his hand. "But the first thing to do is work at establishing baselines - how much energy you can produce comfortably, what your upper limits are, and so forth." His eyes flicked to a textbook at a corner of the table. "Also expect a significant amount of reading on electrical theory in your future."
Darcy followed his gaze, taking in the book. "Give me something to do on the subway when I'm heading to work," she replied. "Walk me through this testing? I'm not familiar with.. needing to touch something? So I'm not sure what I'd need to focus on to have it come up." Touching someone's mind seemed different to focusing on maintaining an electric current, but she supposed some of the ideas would translate in practice.. not that she'd done much of that before.
Jean-Phillipe held the device in his hand and visibly concentrated, the digital readout slowly ticking upward as he did. "With energy projection, and especially electricity, touching things is the easiest way to project, and thus the best way to start. There is a reason 'air-gap' for sensitive electronics is a practice - air has a large amount of resistance to overcome." He stopped and handed the device to Darcy. "This is a voltmeter - voltage is a measure of electrical potential energy, which is why batteries often have their capacity measured in volts."
"Makes sense. So I touch it, and concentrate on that crawling feeling under my skin coming out of my hand, instead?" She held the device with a firm grip, muttering half under her breath as she tried to focus. "C'mon, work with me here." The numbers rose steadily, the crawling sensation she'd mentioned lessening as the number got higher. When the number hadn't changed in several seconds, she tipped it towards Jean-Phillipe with a nod.
"Around a hundred volts sustained, that would make sense," Jean-Phillipe observed. "American wall electricity is generally at one hundred and twenty, so a brief surge at a higher voltage would explain the burst light bulb." He flicked a switch on the side, and the numbers changed. "Think of voltage capability as your internal battery. What is often more important when doing something with electricity is the amperage. For instance, it can take as little as 30 milli-amps to cause heart fibrillation. And by Ohm's law, voltage is equal to the amount of current multiplied by the resistance in a circuit." He held his fingers apart and jumped a spark between them. "So metering your power is about understanding that relationship."
"My taser's about 3.5," she offered, actually understanding what he meant from a combination of using one as her primary defense for so long and getting a crash course in improvising science with Jane. "And it hurts like hell, even if you only get a partial jolt." Darcy rubbed her arm in memory, a stark reminder of exactly how dangerous she might be if she didn't train herself up, not that she planned on skimping her training this go round. She'd learned that lesson painfully enough the first go. "Like not being able to spark my phone anymore because the case for it is designed to stop things like that? The resistance is higher than the ah.. strength of the charge?"
"Yes, just so. If voltage is amount of charge, potential, then resistance is what keeps that charge from moving through a circuit. And amperage is the measure of the rate of flow." Jean-Phillipe smiled. Being able to pass his own knowledge on to benefit another with similar powers was a rare joy. It helped that Darcy seemed to intuitively grasp the concepts, and thus made the task easier. He tossed an incandescent bulb to his student. "So, understanding all that, and being able to sustain around a hundred volts, you should be able to light this bulb without bursting it, nu?"
"Ikh veys nisht," Darcy replied without thinking as she processed the information, then blinked up at him. "Redstu Yidish?" She took a seat on one of the chairs, tucking her legs under her and holding the bulb loosely cupped in her hands. "I'll do my best, though." She took a few deep breaths, focusing on the buzzing just under her skin. Steady flow, not a surge. Steady... steady... the light flickered weakly in her hands. "Not quite..." The light went out as her concentration broke, and she calmed herself again, eyes dropping shut as she visualized what she wanted. The light slowly lit back up, wavering for several seconds before emitting a steady glow.
Jean-Phillipe nodded encouragingly at the glowing bulb in Darcy's hands. "Only bits and pieces," he answered her question. "Sometimes Erik would slip into it, and since he was the one who taught me how to use my power..." He smiled, preferring to remember fonder, better times rather than the conflicts that had happened more recently. "I suppose it is natural that it would come out while I am teaching."
The light wavered as Darcy tried to focus on keeping it lit while talking about something that had the potential to be a bit of a landmine. "Enough to know what I asked, at least. I don't know much myself, but Gran's the same way. Mostly English, bit of Yiddish, bit of German." A last flicker, and the bulb went dim in her hands. Better to ler her concentration lapse than to have it explode around them, she figured. "Was he a good teacher?" She took a deep breath, focus split between the bulb and Jean-Phillipe's words, and watched as the bulb gained a steady but dim brightness.
"He was." Jean-Phillipe looked off into the middle distance, momentarily lost in memories. "Whatever else Magneto may be, he is a very good teacher. Knowledgeable, and able to communicate concepts at a easier level." He blinked and then came back to Darcy. "Hopefully I can manage at least somewhat as well as him."
"I think you're doing fine," she replied with a small smile, rubbing the back of her neck. "The apple didn't roll that far from the tree in that respect. You could give most of the scientists I've worked with a solid lesson in explaining concepts simply but not condescendingly." She twisted in her seat for a few seconds to stretch, then settled back against the chair, bulb lighting faster and wavering less before settling. "How long would you like me to try and sustain it?"
Jean-Phillipe pondered the capacity and control Darcy had demonstrated thus far, looking for a reasonable expectation that would also push her limits slightly. "Let us aim for five to ten minutes," he decided, holding up an old-fashioned analog stopwatch. One habit he had picked up from Magneto was an appreciation for older, well-made items. To be fair, he had also learned to appreciate well-engineered systems from Scott, and this was both. That it would not react poorly to his power was an added benefit. "I will keep time, you just concentrate on the bulb." That way she couldn't simply let up once she passed five minutes.
"Would you mind telling me more about his teaching and your learning while I concentrate? I like learning more about people, and sitting in silence is not my greatest strength." Darcy knew she'd end up practicing alone as well, and was already trying to decide which tunes would be best for focusing concentration for now and which would inspire her to get up and move and split that concentration later. "Also, is the stopwatch a practical or aesthetic thing? I dig the retro vibe, but your phone should have a clock function for that." She gave Jean-Phillipe a cheeky grin, unable to resist the bit of teasing.
A low chuckle came from Jean-Phillipe. "A bit of both," he admitted. "The mechanical stopwatch is less likely to be subject to any issues from ambient power usage from either of us, but the aesthetic is certainly part of it as well." He clicked the watch as Darcy began to light the bulb in her hands. "Magneto can teach just about any powerset just by virtue of the breadth of his experience, but obviously he is most comfortable with those involving the electromagnetic spectrum." It came up quite frequently, and even if an energy projector was not strictly electromagnetic, the principles would often be similar. "He very much is the sort of teacher who expects you to learn the theory behind things, the whys and hows of it. For someone who flies, basic aerodynamics. A telepath, neurobiology. And for me, Ohm, Maxwell, Lorentz, Faraday..." The names of the pillars of electromagnetic theory flowed easily from his memory.
Darcy made a considering noise. "I probably could've used that sort of... I don't want to call it hard-ass, because it makes sense to understand the whys and hows as well as the practice and control when it comes to our abilities... intensity, maybe, when I first arrived." The past was just that, however, and she wouldn't repeat that mistake. "Never too late, though, so I suppose I will also be getting comfortable with Messieurs Ohm, Maxwell, Lorentz, and Faraday. That would explain a lot, assuming his teaching style is emulated down the ranks." Brilliant and potentially all the more dangerous for it with their current outreach. She shoved those thoughts down as she noticed the bulb getting brighter, focusing on the here and now.
"One does one's best," Jean-Phillipe assured her. "And I still have some of the books he suggested I read in my room, so I would be happy to pass those along as a starter set." His eyes flicked to the stopwatch, then back to Darcy. "But he also encouraged me to cultivate my own curiosity, branch out and discover things for myself, so I will certainly pass that on to you."
"I would appreciate that, thanks." She gave Jean-Phillipe a grateful smile. "Theory and measured experimentation, then branching out based on personal curiosity and interests? He sounds like some of the scientists I know. It's always fascinating how the curiosity and what if thoughts can lead to interesting and exceptional solutions to various questions." The light seemed dimmer in her hands, and she couldn't be sure if it was a concentration lapse or if she was just tired. Darcy focused on the bulb, on a tiny stream of power being consistent, and the light flared briefly in her hands before going dark. "How'd I do?"
A click and a twist of the wrist allowed Jean-Phillipe to show Darcy the face of the stopwatch. "Six minutes and fifty-four seconds," he announced. "An excellent starting point." He pursed his lips and considered if there were any other useful data points that could be gained in a first session. "Are you able to affect electricity that is not your own?" he asked as a thought came to him. He held up a hand, power crackling between his five fingertips much like the interior of a plasma ball.
"I'm not entirely sure what you're asking." Darcy leaned forward at the question, eyes alert as she watched the power crackling between his fingertips. "Like jumping a car battery? Connection's there but it needs a little supplement to get going? I haven't tried anything like that."
"Essentially, yes. But let us save that for the future." Honestly, just the limits and endurance testing were a good wrap-up point, Jean-Phillipe felt. "And given that you are now likely possessed of the famed 'mutant metabolism' with an energy power, how do you feel about adjourning to the kitchen and discussing nutritional needs?"
Darcy uncurled from the chair, gripping the arm tightly as a wave of fatigue passed through her body. "Whoa tired," she replied, letting it pass before attempting to move again. Food sounded good. Sleep sounded better... and if she got a whole night without nightmares out of this, maybe she'd be working on the endurance part every night before sleeping. Or most nights, at least.
She gave Jean-Phillipe a smile once she felt stable, letting go of the chair and taking a few uncertain steps. "Yeah, we should probably talk about that. I've started keeping an extra protein bar in my bag in case I have an outburst, but having a solid idea of what's useful when is probably a smart idea."
Jean-Phillipe nodded. "It is a very important thing. I do not recommend completely depleting yourself without food around. While it may not be the same for you, the way my body creates electricity means that if I completely tap myself out, it can cause short term neuromuscular issues." The caution was delivered matter-of-factly, because while it was not something he liked to speak of, lending others the benefit of his lived experience outweighed his discomfort.
"That could be pretty damn bad," she agreed, already thinking about asking Jubilee for tips on hiding snacks on her body when carrying a purse or similar would be too conspicuous. "Do you get hit with a wave of fatigue as a warning, or have a noticeable drop in consistency of the strength and flow?" She was fairly tired, but was that a stamina issue that would change with time, or a warning from her body that she was pushing too far? Knowing the warning signs that other people with similar powers exhibited could only help her keep an eye on herself.
"Consistency can drop slightly as I deplete my reserves," Jean-Phillipe said. "Numbness in the fingers and toes, generally." He wasn't sure what sort of effects depleting himself multiple times might have on his physiology, so he did his best not to push those limits too hard.
"That sounds like nerve issues, which I definitely want no part of if I can avoid it. Makes work harder." Darcy leaned against the counter beside the sink, uncertain if Jean-Phillipe had plans for them to cook or just heat something up. "I'm guessing something is better than nothing in a pinch as far as food goes, but have you found that certain things work better than others for longer-term?"
"It is similar enough to general metabolism needs," the 'teaching' tone was back in Jean-Phillipe's voice. "Carbohydrates for long-term energy, sugary items to stave off a crash, and so on." He went rummaging through a cupboard. "Essentially, a similar balance to what you already eat, just scaled upward."
"Well, that'll be nice for getting food at Betty's a few extra times a week and indulging my inner carb gremlin," Darcy joked, grinning at Jean-Phillipe. "Are we making something specific, or are you just trying to figure out what's available?"
Jean-Phillipe made a slight noise of annoyance. "The latter, but nothing in there looks appealing," he decided, moving to the refrigerator. "Ah," he hummed with satisfaction after plucking a large plastic container out. "Leftover fried chicken?" he asked Darcy, opening it and passing it to her.
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Date: 2022-05-11 10:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-05-11 11:06 pm (UTC)