abracadabra

Ethan chuckled, at least amused at her words. He knew he was a big guy, taller and stronger than most. Built like a rock, which suited him because of his element. “Hilarious,” he said taking his shirt from her, whether or not it was completely dry yet, he didn’t care all that much. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t have to trash it eventually. “What were you working on, before you made me part of your canvas?”

"I can be pretty funny sometimes,” she spoke, handing over his shirt. In reality, he probably could’ve kept his shirt with the paint and it would’ve been in a better shape than it was now. At least she tried. She had to get some credit for that, right? “Oh,” she spoke, looking away from him and to the art she abandoned that was leaning against the wall. “I’m not sure yet, actually.” Crossing her arms, Dakota studied the board that had started to take the shape of something. “It’ll come to me at some point. It’s just a way to clear my thoughts. -- If it’s not good enough for the wall I’m sure I can toss it and paint something different.”

Monserrat nodded. Given what’d happened earlier things were pretty serious, and it was just like her to lighten the mood. “Sure,” She said, as if it was the easiest thing in the world. “But…only Mother Teresa does things for free.”

Dylan wanted to shrug it off, to tell her to forget he brought it up. If he wanted really learn how to control it then he could figure it out himself. It was only the interest in what she was offering that got him to roll of the couch. “Well,” he said, walking over to her, “what’s your price?” 

Nasha stood from her chair, feet planted firmly on the ground. She clutched her book, a small “this way,” falling from her lips as she tilted her head and headed towards the library. The wind picked up then, leaves swirling about before her as she walked. Her eyes widened as she picked up speed, her eyes darting across to see if anyone was watching her. The more anxious she got, the more the wind picked up, and she had to force herself to take deep breaths and try to calm down.

Grabbing his things from the bench, Gabriel got up as she did and began to follow her. He watched as a gust of wind swept some leaves off of the sidewalk. It didn’t seem abnormal to him, considering wind was a pretty common thing, but he noticed something change in the way Nasha walked. A larger gust of wind past them, his hair blowing slightly this time, as his legs moved faster to walk to her. “Nasha,” he whispered, trying to call out to her to get her to stop. “Hey, Nasha.” He caught up to her, his arm gently grabbing her arm, to try to get her to slow down. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?” 

Ethan chuckled as he watched her fumble with his shirt. He was glad he didn’t have water, the element being such a fickle thing. Earth was grounded, it took stability and determination, to even get the rooted ground to listen to him. His element was stubborn just as he was, which was why he was suited for it perfectly. “Don’t shrink it now,” He said, peering over at her.

Though Dakota had accepted she wasn’t at the point where she could always control her power, it always embarrassed her when she couldn’t. She was thankful Ethan was going easy on her, trying to make light of the situation. "I’ll try not to,” she spoke over her shoulder, rolling her eyes playfully. “It barely fits over your muscles now.” 

Monserrat scoffed as she picked up the ashes and finished her cleaning. That was for sure, Ethan thought everyone would bow their heads and follow his orders. “He got lucky, knowing about his powers before the rest of us.” If she had enough time to practice her magic, she would’ve been just as good. “I have some control over fire. If you want, I can teach you what I do.”

At her comment, Dylan began to wonder what it would’ve been like had one of them figured out their powers first. As much as he argued with Ethan, though, he was just glad that he didn’t have to be the leader of the group. “You don’t need to teach me,” he spoke slowly, watching her from the couch. He didn’t want to admit that the earlier incident had scared him a bit, reminding him of the past instances that went too far. He could do with gaining more control - it always seemed to be an area he lacked in. “I just gotta know how to stop it when I want. You know how to do that?”

Monserrat shook her head as she watched everyone everyone leave the garage, for some reason having pent up anger at their discussion. “Noted,” She said, as she tried to accumulate the ashes now that they were cold. Her gaze rose to watch Dylan as he tried to help. “I got it,” She said stubbornly as she began the cleanup. “I don’t know why he’s so hard on you,” She mused, thinking about the argument that had broken between him and Ethan.

Dylan was stubborn, but he knew that there was no point of trying to argue against Mon on this one. "Fine,” he mumbled, wiping the ash off from his hands and onto his jeans as he stood up. He sighed again, falling onto the couch as he watched her clean. “Hell if I know.” Dylan had never really had to follow orders, to look out for other people - it was hard adjusting, “Just because he can control his power the best, or whatever the hell got him so high and mighty, doesn’t mean I’m going to just do what he says.” 

Ethan sighed as she ticked off everyone’s possible contributions. A hideout had been an idea they all came up with on a whim, even though it was a good one. He would have preffered it to be underground, but for safety’s sake having one above ground was more practical. Still, he couldn’t help but feel like the more like home they made it feel, the closer they would all be. Maybe then they could start working as a team. “You’re right,” He said, taking a look at his shirt. “It’s fine the way it is. Think you can make it dry again?”

When he questioned her ability to make it dry, Dakota dropped her gaze to the shirt. She felt a little embarrassed that she wasn’t exactly sure how to. Though she knew that many of the members of their circle didn’t have full control over their powers, it didn’t help her feel much better. “Um,” she nibbled on her bottom lip, hands resting on the material. “Yeah. -- I mean, I can try?” Dakota closed her eyes, trying to search in her mind to when she had last made something dry. It had happened on accident though. “Sorry, give me a second.” 

It seemed nearly everyone was against the idea, or at least on unstable footing. He didn’t want to impose a decision on them, especially since he didn’t really know the outcome of binding their powers. Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. Perfect, that was just what he needed. “Alright, fine.” He said, caving in. “But we can at least have it as a backup plan.” He finalized. He gave one last look the darkened spot in the wall, hoping he didn’t regret giving in. “Someone clean that shit up,” he said over his shoulder, not wanting to linger. Besides, he had to check and see if his tremor had any effects outside.

Though the tension in the room was still there, their voices had lowered and the argument slowly came to a stop. Gabriel watched as Ethan left, noticing how the others relaxed slightly. He almost walked across the room to help Monserrat clean up the mess, but Nasha was suddenly at his side. At her comment, he didn’t say anything, but nodded before following her out.

Nasha nodded and offered him another smile. “Thank you,” she said, truly meaning the sentiment. She couldn’t believe Monserrat had railed against his coming into the circle, especially when he caused no problems at all. “The library is close to the park actually, if you want I can show you the way.”

"Yeah - like I said, it’s not a big deal. I’ll enjoy it.” At her offer, his eyebrows lifted, as he looked over at her. “Yeah?” Considering he hadn’t had the chance to walk around the town much, due to the circle approaching him on one of his first days here, he appreciated the offer. “That’d be great, actually. On the way you can tell me what you know so far?”

Ethan’s eyes then wandered over the bland, gray walls. Their spot definitely needed some working on, that was for sure. But then again their circle was relatively new, they were all still learning things about each other they didn’t know. He nodded as she spoke. “That sounds like a good idea.” He said, biting his bottom lip. He’d have to carry the couch down himself, but he thankfully had his pickup truck. “I’ll see if Monserrat can bring in drapes, and if Nasha can spare a table or two. Maybe a book case,” even though he knew it would be tough getting the girl to part with any.

"Dylan’s place is a mess, so I doubt we’ll get anything from him.” Dakota spoke as she imagined their place with a few more decorations. Drapes and tables would definitely help, though, that was for sure. “And...I have no idea about Gabriel.” He was new to town, probably had only a few belongings for himself. Though, Dakota didn’t really know him. She lifted the shirt from the table, before looking at the paint. Soaking it seemed to get rid of the access paint, but she wasn’t sure how to get the spell out. If she had time, she could try to put it in the washer. Was there even a spell to dry things? She only knew how to stop water from happening. “We’ve also got to give it time, y’know? We just got this place.”

Ethan sighed as everyone seemed to voice their disagreements. He knew binding the circle was a serious task, but it seemed like the only option when everyone was running amok. “What else are we supposed to do then?” He asked, open to hearing suggestions at this point. He knew Dylan was saying the truth, even though he didn’t like to hear it. “My father’s told me about witch hunters. And I don’t know for sure if they’re what killed our parents, to those of us that have lost them. But it’s a very possible option.” He said, crossing his arms. “Either way, we have to figure out a way to stop these mistakes from happening. Binding the circle will at least give us more control,” he said, turning to Dylan. “Especially for you.”

What killed our parents. Dakota was stuck on the words Ethan said, her heart growing heavy as she thought about her mother. When she was nineteen, she was told it was a car crash. However, when the circle had began to form she found out the truth. Her mother had been murdered. -- And maybe they were next. Dakota cleared her throat, crossing her arms under her chest as she stepped away from the new guy’s grip. “Maybe.” She said, stepping forward. “My vote is maybe - at least for right now.” 

Nasha let herself smile at his suggestion. Maybe the newbie wasn’t so bad after all. “That’d be great,” She said with a nod. At least everyone would have some answers. “But do you think you could do it? I don’t want to take up any of your time if you have more important stuff to do. I know being new here and all can be difficult.”

"Yeah, it’d be no big deal.” With everyone in the group already knowing about their powers and the other members, Gabriel felt like this was the first time he could actually help. Ever since he graduated school, he had been filling his time reading random books and researching various topics. Now he had a point. “--I’m much less busy that you are, I’m sure. Adding the research will be fine. Um, is there a library that will have information? I don’t really know where to start when looking up our history.”

Ethan’s rage was blinding, he had half a mind to make the tremor worse and make sure his point got across. God knew he had the strength to do so, even though he disliked tapping into his powers, he had enough to do much worse. It was only when he heard the others call his name, and ask him to stop that the quake slowed. He narrowed his eyes, assessing the damage and figuring that yes, he now had everyone’s attention. “I have had it, with everyone’s shit.” He started. “Using magic inappropriately. Almost exposing us,” he said, looking at Dylan pointedly. “Arguing with each other, like we’re enemies!” He snapped, his gaze cutting to Monserrat and Nasha, who were now looking sheepish. “This isn’t who we are. Who we want to be,” he said with a nod of his head. “There’s too much power between us, especially now that the circle is complete. It could overcome any one of us, or alert the witch hunters of our existence.” He didn’t want to tell everyone about the hunters until he was sure they could get along better, but with the way things were going, any one of them could expose their true nature and cause insurmountable chaos. “I think there’s only one thing left to do at this point. We have to bind the circle,” he said firmly.

"I’ve just started to enjoy my powers,” Dakota spoke softly, the features of her face falling when she looked around the room. “I-I don’t change the weather on accident anymore, I..I’ve started to gain control over them.” She knew that it took years for her to control it and that some only just now started to work with them, but it meant that things could look up for them. “If we just - if we focus enough on working on our own powers, I think it could help.” Dakota couldn’t help but think about the damage they could cause, though, and how her lucky streak wasn’t permanent. 

Ethan rolled his eyes, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get through to him in the first place. He and Monserrat were the toughest members of the circle to wrangle, but given their affinities he wasn’t at all surprised. “Good,” he said, not knowing if Dylan would keep the promise or not.

Dylan stared at Ethan for a moment, before looking down at his bottle and taking another swig. He had come here for a reason, though he couldn’t remember now and figured it didn’t really matter that much. With a sigh, he got up from the stool. Throwing the empty beer bottle in the nearest trash, he looked back over at him. “Good talk.”