Jono, Paige, at the quarry with the hoodie (Monday night)

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Under Hank's advice, Paige and Jono head out to the quarry for some blowing up of things. You demanded it, we're giving it to you. Considering Jono has no body (do you know how hard that is to log?) you'd better love us. ;) In case you don't care, Paige gets naked.


The trip to the quarry had been uncharacteristically silent from the two of them, and even Jono, in his less perceptive state, could tell that he was not the only one having a bad day. Though for him, every day seemed to be bad day, in fact, it was possible his bad mood had become his good mood. "Could you be a little more quiet, sunshine? I can't concentrate here," he finally said, directing the thought at what he saw of Paige, and her disturbingly opaque mind.

"Hm?" Paige asked, pulled out of her own swirling thoughts. "Oh. Sorry. I'll try." The gentle, teasing jab flew completely over her head and she bent over to pick up a rock, about the size of her palm, staring down at it as if it might gift her with the universe's secrets.

Jono floated in silence for a moment, thought it was never that silent when there were people around who thought too loudly, even in the mansion where everyone was taught at least the basics of psychic shielding. "So this is the quarry, yeah? Looks just like everything else."

"It's prettier, I promise. Dusk, so everything's gone slightly golden. You'd secretly like it." The stone in her hand, proving to be silent and of no use to her, was chucked as far as she could, making a clattering sound as it landed.

It was pointless to try to imagine, really. Jono gave her the mental equivalent of a tap on her forehead. "What's going on, Paige? You're about as reachable as the bottom of the Mariana Trench." He felt it was an apt metaphor.

She couldn't help but smile a little at that, sitting herself down as comfortably as she could muster. Right now husking only her bottom sounded very brilliant but she liked this whole being clothed thing. "Ah. Bad day. Week. Month, if it keeps going like this. When you get your body back, do you feeling like running away to Massachusetts with me?" she asked, piling up the stones by her side to construct a little palace. "I hear MIT likes geniuses."

"To hell with the body, I hear MIT likes yet unexplored sources of energy." Jono felt slightly put out by the fact he couldn't sit with her, and added ruefully: "I wouldn't mind." The best he could do right now was to talk, at least if he'd been an empath he could've given her more. "What's this all about then? I'm a tad out of the rumour mill.

"Well, I told you about Samson. Genius idea, really, putting me of all people in a room with a psychotic shrink," Paige said, grinding her teeth so as not to add the bonus threats of stabbing. The man was a loon, really. "So I've been in a bit of a foul mood. And then Amanda decides that I seem to be neglecting my horse, so just sort of takes over. I put up with it the entire time she was my roommate – going through my things, taking whatever she needed – but she's not my roommate anymore. She's already pretty much beckoned every living creature in the bloody house over to the Amanda party and then she has to move into the stables too?" Sighing, Paige casually flicked her wrist, sending the tower of stones tumbling. "Look, now I'm talking like you. Your hoodie must have mystical powers. Anyways. I mean, I like the girl, a lot really, but that doesn't keep me from being madly jealous of her. And I guess you take the girl swiping my horse from right under my nose, add a cup of jealousy and a heaping tablespoon of her playing the woe is me game and you get yourself a nice, big Paige blow-up cake. Now half the school is giving me dirty looks, including the people who I never really considered bosom buddies for life, but at least friends and..." Paige trailed off, wiping her eyes on her somewhat tattered sleeves. "I'm talking a lot. Sorry."

"Sounds like you've been busy," was all Jono said for a while, not an expert on any sort of relationship front, though that had never stopped him from having opinions before. "You know, you never talk a lot, so this has got to mean you're really upset about this. Your horse and everything. But why the fuck are you jealous?" Another thought formed, like a bubble of air in water. "Wait. What does my hoodie have to do with anything?"

"I miss you. So I stole one. It... helps me sleep sometimes," she said sheepishly, finding a way to look everywhere but at the glow that was Jono, and managing to answer two questions at the same time. Suddenly, rebuilding her stone fortress was extremely interesting.

Not that Jono could tell where she was looking. At first it had been strange to hold conversations with what looked like abstract glowy squiggles, but he could see better now how the patterns worked. This was as much Paige as her physical body was. "It isn't really stealing if I don't mind you taking it." The urge to put an arm around her was odd with the lack of arms. "Sounds like you ought to be the one blowing up rocks."

Paige smiled a little as she dug out a little moat, never really one to care about the condition of her fingernails. "Well, I get to throw rocks in the air and yell "pull" for you. That'll do. Maybe if I'm lucky we'll run out of rocks for me to throw, so I'll have to go metal husk and bust up some of the larger ones. And if I'm really lucky, I'll lose my voice so I can't get into predicaments like these again. Things just work so much better when I keep my mouth shut."

"Speaking of which. I'm not really sure which way to aim when you do shout 'pull'." He'd had vague worries about that before. Did the directions still hold true to him? Was left actually left? And it was all a bit too philosophical to consider now. "You? Lacking the self-discipline to stay quiet? Eighth wonder of the world?"

"I've gone crazy, remember? The world is all topsy turvy land. Up is down, black is white, whatnot. Besides, the pyramids would be mighty ticked off to hear they have competition." Paige marvelled at her own ability to joke in such a brilliant manner, even at the time like this. Maybe it was just Jono's presence; he demanded her best bantering form. "Well. I know Braddock managed to borrow people's eyes when she was blind. Care to try it out?"

"Yeah, but you've got to let me." He flicked another touch at her, only to be rebuffed by her steely wall of misery. Or craziness, whatever she wanted to call it, there's medication for both. "The pyramids are just a bunch of old stones in a pile, I'm more interested in black turning white because that's just plain wrong."

"Well, we could put a red sock in with your new white laundry load and make everything pink," Paige mused playfully, rubbing her temples in an attempt to do away with the headache that refused to cease plaguing her. Okay. Calm, controlled, perhaps some bunnies in there... "Yes. Nice, fluffy bunnies and sunshine and daisies and very green grass. Oh, and look. There you are frolicking with them. Aw. I think I'm good to go."

Bunnies. Brilliant. "All right, do you need to do that?" He could see the bunnies and the grass, and- oh, if he'd been able to get nausea, he would have. Definitely. It was thoroughly disorienting to suddenly open your eyes and see through someone else's. He took a moment to get used to the feeling and the fact that he could actually see, realising he might've actually missed the world. "Oh, this hoodie," he said, a little faintly.

Paige giggled, blinking in surprise when her mirth seemed to come back at her and echo around in her head. Oh, this was an odd sensation. Not bad, just more amplified. Everything seemed to be doubled. "This hoodie is all right, isn't it? I could take it off, I'm sorry. And I told you, if you would just wear the ears like I asked, I wouldn't have to do this."

"Bunny ears... Do I need to tell you that's physically impossible right now?" he grumbled, his vision fading in and out as he tried to concentrate on keeping up the link and moving. It was like watching yourself in a mirror and trying figure all over again where left and right were. "The hoodie's fine. It's not like I'm using it right now."

"You just sounded off," she explained, staying as still as possible until he righted himself. This would take practice, sure, but at least she could be doing something to help. It would make her feel better. "And if you think about it, it's not totally. If you're possessing me, and I wear the ears, you're still sort of wearing them. Although, I guess the photo opportunity wouldn't quite be the same."

"The shock of actually seeing it," Jono replied, starting to get at least a rudimentary grasp of what he was doing. It was almost like blind leading the blind. "It takes a whole lot more of brain power than I have to possess anyone, so, really... I think the ears are a lost cause." He nudged her, as much as one could call it a nudge. "We could try this blowing up thing now."

Paige smirked, not commenting on the lack of brain power but not really bothering to shield either. "Well, all right. Just try not to break my head please." Reaching over, Paige pulled off one of the turrets from her castle, inspecting its weight as she tossed it in her hand. This would do for a test. "Ready?" she asked, as she stood and pulled back her arm.

"Ready," Jono echoed. For once he could say breaking things was just what the doctor had ordered. Well, as far as rocks went, he doubted it applied to people's minds, and even if it did, he'd have to hire someone else to do it. Though he'd learned a lot during this time, being suspended from real life. "You seem to do just fine on the breaking your head thing all on your own."

"Oh, shush your lack of mouth. I've been medlab free the entire time you've been living out this strange Tinkerbelle fantasy of yours, except once and that's just because I needed a nap. Pull!" she said hurriedly, hoping to distract him away from the medlab comment. Smooth, Paige, smooth.

The stone had already reached its highest point when Jono reacted, and even then, the beam - or if one could call his particular kind of energy jets a beam - completely missed its mark, though lighting up the quarry for a second. The setting sun was hardly an issue or a source of light anymore. "Fuck", he said calmly, apparently having forgotten to adjust for the fact that he was not where he thought he was. "Who goes to the medlab for just a nap?" No such luck, Paige.

"You're not very good," Paige observed oh-so-helpfully, as she watched the stone arc back down. "Attractive light show, at least. Maybe someone will hire you for New Year's. Or those people who feel the urge to propose in lights or something. And I couldn't sleep. Pull!" She was all about the multiple distractions tonight it seemed.

This time it went slightly better. At least in the right direction, and a somewhat more concentrated effort. "Shut up," he muttered. "I'd be more likely explode over all these people wanting to propose or whatever the hell. Talk about ruining the mood." He readied himself for another go. "You never sleep. What was so different about this time?"

"You're so bitter. Maybe if you ask really, really nicely you and Angelo and I could set up some totally sickening partnership thing," Paige said, purposely missing the point just to tease. "I'd get you a really gothic ring, and you could wear a tuxedo and everything. There'd even be cake! Pull!" Chucking another stone into the air Paige quickly added, "I really wasn't sleeping."

"Cake? What would I do? Look at it?" Jono didn't even want to think about the rest of what she said, it was sickening all right. He just wasn't a person who wore tuxedos. And maybe that was the incentive he needed because he blasted the flying rock easily this time, scattering shards of it everywhere, and automatically trying to close his eyes to protect them. "Did the nice doctor give you drugs?"

There was a startled shriek as something sliced open Paige's thigh; a fragment of the stone had cut through her jeans to reach the skin underneath. Cursing under her breath, Paige stripped herself of Jono's sweatshirt and pulled at her hair, revealing her natural metal husk. "Ow. I think I'll wear this until we're done. Rock shards are sharp, who knew?"

Jono couldn't hear the shriek, but he could sense the pain and was nearly displaced by it, followed by the very odd sensation of having Paige husk. "I'm sorry," he said, a bit lamely. There wasn't much he could do. Rock shards hadn't even occurred to him.

"Hey. I'm the brains of this operation. Don't worry about it. Good thing Guthrie's have this trend for death averting mutations, that's all I've got to say. Think you can hit one again, or are you getting tired?" she asked, kicking her skin and torn clothes away with a bored sort of ease as she folded Jono's sweater.

"Trend for death averting mutations, but a sick fascination with situations causing certain death," Jono translated, watching how she folded the hoodie which was with more care and consideration she'd showed her own clothes. "Not tired yet. I've a backlog of energy to deal with."

Placing the sweatshirt on a nearby boulder, Paige nodded, even though he couldn't technically see it. "Oh, I'll bet you're now really glad I used to play baseball back home. This arm never gets tired," she continued to joke. "I think I might sit back down again, though, if this is going to take a while. Maybe I could learn to throw rocks in my sleep, that would be a talent. And look! No death involved."

Trying to get down to what bothered her was absolutely infuriating, when she wouldn't stop making like a slippery eel for even a second. "Really glad you can't make fun of how I throw," Jono said, reminding her of the poor apples and the poor archery targets. "So why'd you not sleep so much you had to go to the medlab?"

"That reminds me. You throw like a girl. And not an awesome girl, like myself, but the kind that have long, pink nails and wear platform shoes. Can you alter your throwing ability when you alter your physical form?" she teased, in typical eel form, chucking another rock into the air so she could watch him hit it down. It really was quite spectacular.

And hit it down Jono did, maybe with unnecessary force, with the pieces of rock shrapnel pinging off her metal skin. It was getting easier with every success. "I think you need to stop insulting me if you want to stay on my good side." He flared a little burst at her, not to hurt, as it was easily deflected by her husk, but just to prove a point. "And answer my question already. I'm tired of asking it."

Paige contented herself with throwing another rock for him, making the parallel, if only in her mind, of a dog and a stick. So this was love. Maybe a dog and spaghetti? "Well, it's not like you answered my question either. Besides, you said it yourself; I don't sleep often. It's a common thing. I just decided to be responsible about it this time, since I don't have you around to tuck me in right now." There was a little coil of his energy that wrapped around her wrist as she threw, a coy, seductive touch, before pulling back to launch at another rock.

The rock burst like a firework, raining down on them, the only light coming from Jono now, shifting and gleaming in her curves, oddly intimate. "What question? The one about altering my throwing abilities? I'll see what I can do, if I ever get that much control." He touched another coil at her. "It's just not you to let your not sleeping thing get so far you'd have to get help for it. I mean, you're too practical to let it get out of control."

"Just... figure this whole body thing out sometime soon, okay?" she said quietly, not totally a lie. After all, Angelo had asked because of Jono's current state, and it was also the reason she was losing sleep. They just sort of fit into each other, really. Besides, it was not one of those things she could really tell him, if she wanted things to at least have a chance to work out.

The tone of her voice, or the part of it which he could detect, took him by surprise. It was the uncertainness she so rarely exhibited. "Working on it, you know," he commented, but not unkindly, wondering briefly why she seemed to need him so much. "Maybe we should try bigger targets."

Paige nodded silently; sure he would pick up on her affirmation as she searched for a larger rock. Digging a little, she pulled one out; still small enough that she could throw it with one arm as long as she was careful, but certainly a difference in size. "I know. Just been a while. Pull."

The whole deal made a sort of a satisfying noise. The fizz of energy and the sharp snap of the stone breaking in pieces before answering the call of gravity. Jono made little loops of light after that, ridiculously proud of how easy it was. "It has," he replied, though to him it was a slightly different matter. "Maybe something even bigger."

"Good thing I decided to change, then. Couldn't get away with this with anyone else, you know. Minus the TK's and Cain obviously." Rocks were heavy simple as that, but being metal did allow her a little extra strength. Hoisting up a rock – there was no way this could be considered a stone anymore – Paige threw it over her head. What more could she say? It had been a long time, he'd agreed. "Pull!"

Always good for perspective, seeing someone launch off a rock that size, especially if it was one's girlfriend, even in such a convoluted scene as this. "Uh," said Jono, and it was funny because for most people it's actually a sound they make, but he actually has to say it. The first shot he gave the rock was only enough to push it slightly out of its trajectory and drill some cracks into it, the second one, much brighter and stronger, however, got the work done. "You don't need to throw them anymore, I bet I can hit them while they're stuck still on the ground."

"You're just nervous because I'm throwing boulders and someone might see," Paige teased easily. "But you're right, in some sense. You're obviously just fine at hitting moving targets. Hitting stationary ones would be moving down for you. Perhaps work on your distance?" Only Paige could manage to make a comfortable get-together with her boyfriend so that he could burn off enough psychic energy to perhaps take a corporeal form into a training exercise. "You can sense depth with my eyes, can't you?"

"Yeah, I see exactly like you see, since I'm technically only borrowing the images from your head. Can you turn around so I can see the whole place?" And only Paige could make a training session be something Jono liked. The only annoying bit was the one where he was basically blind.

Doing a careful pirouette, Paige let Jono examine the entire quarry carefully, trying to keep her eyes straight ahead so he could use them as opposed to looking up at that bird over there. Was that species native to these parts? Trying to clear her head without actually shaking it, Paige found herself back where she started. "See anything you like?"

"To the left a bit," Jono instructed, attempting to peer out of the corner of Paige's eye. It was nearly the same as playing Metal Gear Solid, trying to look around corners that were in the game by physically turning into that direction. He felt much of the same frustration now. "I think I could get rid of that big one there." He couldn't even point out the one he meant, except by making an energy tendril touch it for a while.

"I see it," Paige confirmed for him, turning. It was a ways off, and she determined it an adequate first target. "And there's no need to be grumpy, Tinkerbelle. Just nudge me around, I don't mind. If anything, be grumpy because I just referred to you as Tinkerbelle."

"Right, that's not a problem, Captain Hook," he assured her, a bit huffy at that. He tried to gauge how much strength he'd need for vaporising that particular chunk of rock, but gave up on that soon, deciding to just blast it until it flew apart. Making his energy to form a continuous, concentrated beam was not his forte, though, there were always offshoots, making the whole thing seem very messy.

Crooking her finger, Paige held up the makeshift hook just in her, and therefore his, line of sight, the beginnings of moonlight glinting off her husk. "Arr, avast and swashy swashbuckling buckles!" she replied with a playful growl in her voice. She was distracted by her play as she watched him work, suddenly all quiet and calculating. He needed work on this; short bursts came easy to him, they required little thought, but these needed his full attention for an extended period of time. His lack of patience probably didn't help.

All the rock did at first was to roll back from the sheer kinetic force, before it started to crack... and split neatly in the middle. The light dissipated into the air with little winks, and Paige could feel the Jono's embarrassment. "What the hell?" he muttered, and tried again, demolishing the two halves with short controlled bursts, before aiming at another boulder nearby. It was clear the concentrated beam expanded more energy. "I think I'll be done after this. For tonight."

"Hm. I'll be sure to log this for the doctors. Perhaps we could build your stamina," Paige observed idly, her mind already whirling with possible training exercises and tests. If nothing else, it gave her something to contribute as opposed to sitting around and trying not to mope. Besides, who knew the inside of Jono's head better than her?

"Now you're just being selfish," Jono stated, misunderstanding on purpose, his light dimmer now that he'd gotten to spend some of his pent up frustration. "My stamina is really not their concern." Though secretly he was glad, if it gave Paige something to do. She seemed to be at her best when she was operating several projects at once.

Laughing, Paige shed her metal husk, leaving piles of slivers around her ankles. As long as no one came down here in bare feet before she had time to come back and clean it up, this should be okay. "It's true. It's really all about me. I admit it. Then again, it's your fault for getting me addicted," Paige managed to say with a completely straight face, reaching over to pick up Jono's hoodie and pull it on. She was really quite thankful for the combination of Jono's both being much taller than her and his dimming and the fact that the moon wasn't even at it's first quarter yet, given her state of dress. Collecting her tattered clothes, Paige rolled them up and stuck them under her arm.

"Hey, so my stamina couldn't have been that bad in the first place." Jono argued, surprisingly good-natured for himself. He blinked, taking his last look about the now moonlit quarry, before terminating the connection and going back to his own strange, glowy plane, settling on following her. "Will you be all right?"

"Perhaps I wouldn't mind some concentrated efforts now and again as opposed to a collection of quick bursts," Paige continued, still managing to keep up the veil of sincerity and lack of concrete topic of discussion. There was a strange sensation in the back of her mind as Jono let go, a bubble popping, and then the sliding into single, sharp focus. "I'll be fine. I have something to keep me occupied now, hm?"

He would have tackled her for that, if he could have. Instead he settled for a small mental poke, which was really not at all the same, but it had to do. "Bugger off." It did nothing to hide his amusement, but that wasn't probably even necessary. She always won, and they both knew it.

"Love you too, baby," Paige answered, grinning.