[Time: Who knows! But it's after the Nazi World mission concludes!] [We're looking in on Raxa's room. Not for any lurid reasons, just because we expect things to happen there! Like Billie showing up. Let's describe the room and get it going!] [Mini start!] * Raxa is in what has become her room! She's managed to make a really wide bed with a bunch of pillows, and beyond that, well, there's some weird metal things that aren't doing much. * Raxa is currently leaning forward off her bed, picking at one of the metal things with some tools, her tool-sash laying out at the floor. It's not really a modest pose, given she wears a sideless top. * Billie knocks on the door! It's a custom where she's from, at least. "Raxa?" * Raxa looks over and up from the metal. "Mmm? Billie?" That's me. Can I come in? * Raxa pushes the pile of metal over. It kinda looks like a tiny snake. "Yes, please come in." * Billie pushes the door open and steps in. She's wearing a khaki cutoffs and a halter top which shows her butterflies off nicely. "Hey." She smiles a little nervously as she closes the door behind her. "Hope I wasn't interrupting anything." (-a) * Raxa turns to her side and scoots, laying out on the bed with a slight grin. "Ah, no... just testing what I can make with my powers. I guess I will have to build living metal on my own." * Raxa extends her index finger, which has a metal claw on it. "Truthfully, it's all quite boring." She licks her lips. "I'm hoping for some excitement soon, however." Living metal? ... You mean like robots? * Raxa nods slightly. "Yes, robots." She scoops up the little snake-robot. "I can't just will them to be yet." * Raxa shakes it a little, but it doesn't move. * Billie walks over and sits at the edge of the bed, looking at the snake-bot. "Yeah... I'm not so good at electronics, so I probably can't help much. It's kinda cute, though." * Raxa grins slightly. "Yes, well, I will figure it out eventually. Then I'll give you one." Her eyes look over Billie, then she looks back to her eyes with a grin, eyes flashing a bit. "So what puts you in my bed?" * Raxa sits up as she waits for the response. Well, I was hoping for a lesson. * Billie glances at Raxa. "Not in sex. I mean, I'm sure you're great at it, and I could *probably* do to learn some, but. Back in that terrible Nazi place, you said that you could teach me magic, right?" * Raxa grins and says, "Well, just let me know if you change your mind." She shifts her legs into a half-lotus and nods. "Yes, I could, if you wish." A small moment, then she adds, "I must say before... to me these ways are still sacred, these words still true." I know you are from another world, and... more mechanical than I, but... please keep that in mind. * Billie takes that into account, then sighs and kicks off her flip flops so she can sit crosslegged on the bed. "I'll try not to be insensitive. I just..." You gotta understand, where I'm from, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of religions. And a lot of fighting over which one's right. People do care, a *lot*. And I always knew that there was something, maybe even more than one somethings, because I can talk to the dead. And see them. But it was just easier for me - it's easier for a lot of people, where I'm from - to try not to think too hard. Or believe too much. Because it hurts, you know? * Raxa looks back at her, brushing her own hair back a moment before she replies, "I... don't quite know, sorry. I have seen Huracan, and served him since before I first had breasts. The sacrifices demanded are... natural, to me." But if it was more confusing, and more... religions, that would be... difficult. * Billie folds her hands in her lap and looks at Raxa. "Yeah, it's basically, like... blind faith. True faith, I guess." * Raxa nods slightly, then chuckles. "The only things I have to have blind faith in are other people, and they can hurt you whenever they wish." At least for most people. So it's a lot easier to believe in what you can see and understand, scientifically. There's no religion in science, and it'll always work. * Billie pauses for a moment, then says, "Anyway. Sorry in advance if I look at your magic too much like science. I'll try not to." * Raxa stretches her arms behind her back, and then lays her hands down on her upper thighs. After a moment, she replies, "That is all I can hope for, I suppose. This is no temple to Hurcan, after all, and you are a little old." She gives her a slight smile, then says, "My name is Raxa. The sudden lightning of green shoots, and new life. Life is fire and breath, heat and soul, Billie. And when you can feel your own fire, move your own spark, then you have the magic of life." So first, I will take your hand, and second, you will breathe as I do. (You cut: And when you can feel your own fire, move your own spark, then y) (then you have the magic of life.") * Billie nods, and she holds her hand out to Raxa. There's a butterfly on her palm. * Raxa reaches over, hand over Billie's palm, and she strokes the palm lightly with one finger, before gripping it lightly. "Butterflies, mmm?" She chuckles, then says, "Breathe with me, Billie." She starts to take slow, deep breaths. * Retrieving #mcdc modes... * Billie would reply, but she bites it back and starts with the slow breathing, trying to match Raxa's pace. * Raxa murmurs, as she breathes, "This will take a while. Feel your heart, Billie. Listen to it. Feel your blood pump. Your muscles twitch with the spark. Know your life." * Billie nods. She closes her eyes, trying to do so. Her heart and her blood - that she gets, easily enough, but the spark thing confuses her slightly. Still, sometimes muscles do twitch. * Raxa looks at her, still breathing, her fingers sometimes stroking over her palm. She finally, after a few minutes, mms and murmurs, "Okay, Billie. I am going to cut you, free your blood. I want you to feel the heat, the sting... I want you to focus on that. It will feel odd... and I will be moving your blood in your palm." * Billie furrows her brow, eyes still closed. "Okay?" * Raxa nods and drags her claw across Billie's palm lightly. It's actually a very thin cut, scoring it enough to draw blood. Raxa continues breathing smoothly. * Billie winces a little, nevertheless. Getting cut, even lightly, is hardly a fun thing. * Raxa turns her hand upward, and draws Billie's blood upward off of her hand, in a thin column from the cut up to her claw. Billie can actually feel it pull on her hand, like a very tiny rope. She might even be able to feel it pull on her blood. If she's focusing. It's magic! What... you're... * Billie 's hand trembles and her concentration falters; she's clearly having a hard time with this. * Raxa holds the blood up with her claw a moment as she looks to her, then she quickly pulls the rope up onto the underside of her claw, holding the blood there in a pool. She looks to Billie and says, "You could feel it, yes?" Yeah. It's... weird. Like tugging at my insides- no, not really that. More just what goes through me, so it tugs at the rest of me. * Billie 's eyes are still closed; maybe she doesn't want to look? But she sounds much more calm now that she's talking about it. "You pulled some of my blood up, right? Through the cut you made?" * Raxa nods and smiles a little. "Doing that yourself is what we will be working towards. That feeling." She nods and says, "Yes... I'm actually holding it in my claw right now. It wasn't much, as the cut was thin." That's so strange. It's like it's still a part of me, even though it's outside now. Drawing blood with a syringe is *nothing* like this. * Raxa nods, and says, "Yes... the spark fades, without breath quickly... most people, when they bleed, have no magic in it." Your breathing helped it stay. In time, you will not need to breathe in a focused way. * Billie nods, taking that in. "Like meditation." Yes... meditation sounds right. * Billie nods again. * Raxa sighs and brings the claw to her own lips, licking it off, then asks, "Are you ready to focus again?" * Billie opens her eyes and looks at Raxa, maybe curious about the sigh. "Yeah." * Raxa looks back at her and nods. "Then breathe with me again. We will do this until you can start to understand your flow. It may take a while, but then we will be able to at least let you move your blood outside you." Not far, but enough. * Billie nods. She closes her eyes and restarts the breathing. (Do we wanna fade a little forward? Maybe have Billie ask something?) (Or just be doneish.) (?) (Dre wants to do stuff, so I guess can stop. :/ If we want, we can pick up in the future at a later date?) (Sure.) (Okay!) [Mini suspend/end! Teaching continues!]