clearly with a small pop that got everyone’s attention. Tor opened his eyes but kept his focus as pure as possible. Simple enough now. No harder than making a cutter in the air at least. He was deep, but could see by the light of the blue glow in front of him. It wasn't as bright as a light would be, and only about as big around as his own head. Everyone scurried back from it suddenly, even though it only looked like a pale glow.
“Tor! What is that?” Trice asked, trying to keep her voice gentle, even though it sounded a little scared. He smiled.
“Lightning. Contained lightning. I can shield against it now. I figured it out. Thanks to your help everyone.” Closing his eyes he let the energy inside the control field dissipate first, then let the rest of it go. He was, somehow, learning. Get rid of the dangerous stuff first. Right. Now he could add it to his shield and protect against light too. Maybe next time Smythe attacked him he wouldn't be left blind. Everyone sat around staring.
“What? I know I don't have any interesting stories, so I made some lightning. That's cool, right? I mean it’s a real novelty and everything.” He tried to sound humorous about it, but knew that wasn't his real reason for doing it. No, he'd been trying to move past boredom. That was the real point. Probably not a good one, but there it was. Tor knew that people did a lot of things to try and not be bored.
Swarley still looked scared, even more so now than before. Even to the point of looking pale. Then again, maybe he was just hungry? Tor had been on short rations himself, so tried to work the idea of an early meal around. Everyone ignored him on the point, so he let it go, hoping it hadn't been rude.
Still, his stomach was growling and he knew that the larger people ate more than he did when they could, so they had to be hungry too. To keep from being too bored he asked what kind of things they might need for search and rescue the next day. This got a shrug and a list of things he didn't have anything ready for.
Water he could do, sure. He had pumps that cleared water ready to go in his trunk, and could make cisterns out of stone or soil. Food? Why would they even need it? Didn't people already have food? Damage to buildings? Well, he could make digging equipment he supposed, and concentrators, if that would do. Temporary housing for the displaced? That one he was all over.
Petra smiled at him and shrugged.
“Healing too, medicine and first aid. There will be injured. Trees collapse on roofs, that sort of thing, buildings collapse. I once saw a man that was run clear through with a palm tree.” She held up her right hand to stop anyone from speaking. “I know it's not possible, I still saw it. That was gruesome.”
Through dinner, which they ate by lamp light for some reason Tor didn't get, he planned what he needed to do. He needed more working materials, but stone would work. Could he go out and get some safely? Really he didn't think so, not from the sound of the wind out there and the pounding and crashing coming from the beach. Shield or not he could still drown. Maybe he could collect something around the place there… They needed more of nearly everything, as well as something to help people heal… God. He didn't have enough time. Did he? He knew that fields could be built faster if he went deep enough, but if he went too deep it was hard to come back.
The one time he'd tried it he almost hadn't come back at all. But… If he set the time to come back as being triggered by the field being strong enough? It was risky. Still, if he could master that, he'd be on his way to being a real master, not just some guy that people said that about to be polite to.
The wind freaked out then and got really loud, so much that people were yelling to be heard. Not at the top of their lungs maybe, but close enough. Tor had an idea, but needed at least a template piece to do the initial work on. It could be anything, since he doubted he could really check the sigils, the indicator marks he used to remind himself what to do next. Not working as deeply as he intended too. This time he had to form the idea and commit to it fully.
It was a risk all around, but, well, he healed, right? All the time. Could he figure out what that felt like and just accelerate it? Everyone should do it about the same way really, shouldn't they? And this wouldn't be specific, just push a body to do more in the moment, so that the person could survive long term.
Right. If it didn't kill them instantly, that would work.
Well, could he just remind a person as to what their individual pattern was supposed to be using a limited feedback window? Tor really didn't know for certain. For one thing he was pretty sure he'd just made that term up. The idea was solid though, he just needed some help…
When dinner was over he looked around at the material available. He could work as the baseline for a male, being healthy enough right now, recovered from having been poisoned, and not damaged overly, bad mood aside. That part could be left out anyway for now, mood and all that. It would be a good idea for later though. Trice was injured, and pretty badly he realized when he touched her field from across the room, so was Varley… Tor blushed.
Well, that wasn't exactly sick was it?
Last he heard, being pregnant was normal enough. God, well, that told him a lot didn't it? She wasn't forbidden from having sex, but should have at least not let herself get pregnant. Oh well, he could deal with that later. Or not. Whatever. Emergency situation now, he had to remind himself of that, feeling distracted. It wasn't just a few weeks pregnant either, he didn't think, about three months? Had that been why she hadn't wanted to go swimming? Afraid it would show? That came later though, didn't it? When she was pregnant, his mother never showed till nearly five months or so. Then in Two Bends everyone stayed pretty well clothed all the time, so maybe it was a real issue?
Petra was fine, healthy and strong. Holly was still ill, the poison having taken a huge toll on her system. Tor could relate. Walking over to Petra he asked if she would meet him in his room later.
“In fact, could you sleep with me tonight?” It sounded innocent to his ears when he said it, but almost immediately he blushed. It could be taken the wrong way. She nodded though and smiled.
“I'll meet you there. In about half an hour?”
Well, Tor had an awful thought that she might be disappointed in him when she found out what he really wanted. Then again, if he hurried… No. That wouldn't work, there just wasn't enough time. It wasn't fair, but it was true. Even if he could somehow finish this faster than anything he'd ever done, they'd probably all have to leave as soon as it was daylight. Laughing it occurred to him that she probably just assumed he was afraid of the storm like a little kid. It was sometimes hard for royals to remember that he wasn't way younger than his actual years.
Still half an hour…
That meant he had time to get some work done.
He isolated his own field and pulled out the parts responsible for his basic form, that of his limbs, organs and shape. Leave out size, he reminded himself. One size fits all. It had too. Just the most basic stuff. Then he added in the feeling of healing, and increasing the speed of that. It wasn't enough he knew, but he held that much already when he heard a knock on the thick oak door, pale gray with age, or some treatment he didn't know about. Tor walked over as if in a dream and opened it.
Petra stood, wearing a lovely gown that wasn't shear and didn't hug her tightly, but hinted nicely at what might be underneath. Not silk, but something that shone a little even in the dim light of the room. After she stepped in, her feet bare, she turned away and let it drop, looking at him sweetly over her shoulder. A robe then, not a night dress? She wore nothing but a smile then. Not thinking about anything but gathering information about her, he felt his body move with her towards the bed. It wasn't rushed and for the most part he ignored it, focusing on her deeply. Almost not aware that he moved at all. On what made her a woman, what that meant field wise… It was fascinating.
He was kissing her, and apparently doing a good enough job of it, laying next to her, naked now. Tor couldn't remember getting that way. They did a lot of things, and it took a long time, but he kept making himself work, even as he finished. He realized, since he was examining her so closely on the deepest levels, that she hadn't yet. Not quite. So he kept going until Petra didn't need any more, her moans lovely in the dark room. He let his lips touch hers again and noticed how different the field for her brain was. Not the thoughts, but the physical organ itself. Fascinating.
“Stay with me.” He murmured into her ear before she could collect her things and leave, which was her clear intent.
Taking the single stone he had, Tor sat and plunged his mind as deep as he'd ever gone. It felt like he only took a single breath, but it was morning when he opened his eyes and he held a basic healing device that he could only hope would work.
Dawn was just breaking, but he didn't need his eyes to see now, not in this state. Not really. Next to him Petra slept still, clutching her pillow a little. Setting down the device, which had a forest green glow to it, the sigil
