The inn was not the initial location that Alex considered for rest and relaxation, for far too many came and went from the central hovel of trouble. To be frank, he considered it one of the most unsafe locations for someone of his status; begging for trouble to ignite at but a flick of a switch.

A deadly switch. Like one of those shiny red buttons that you are naturally told to avoid pressing, yet curiosity always winds up snatching you in the end?

Tossing and turning from the covers that were lazily sprawled over his frame, he propped up onto his shoulders, using a hand to drag the sleep from his eyes. Even though the signs of sunlight were visibly ready to bathe the land in morning delight, he knew he had overstayed his welcome. Mornings were the times things went awry; daring to strangle the very essence of 'escaping the social circle' from his routine.

Thankfully, he couldn't hear the buzz of life circulating below. And it did in fact seem as though there wasn't a soul amongst it. Minus a hazy visage of somebody slouching over a table?

"Damn drunks?" Alex mumbled incoherently as he tossed the sheets aside, meaning to rise from slumber directly and trudge his way to the nearby bathroom. Time wasn't going to wait for him to get his act together, after all.

The morning exercise would have to be put on hold, for the sweat that would be produced rounded to requiring a second shower. He already managed a brief one last night, and that was more than enough to keep his natural smell of plums intact. Knotted lavender locks were pried and soothed with a personal brush, removing the disheveled appearance he managed from slumber. He wasn't one for appearing like somebody who had only recently stuck their finger in a light socket. A brief flash of teeth in the mirror, and inspecting his breath with a cupped hand required of him to brush. He was without a toothbrush, or paste, and decided to improvise using a bit of tissue about the frontal canines and thorough rinsing.

Gum would suffice delightfully.

Snatching the nearby change of clothes, consisting of nothing greater than a black muscle shirt, loose-fitting windbreaker, and torn jeans, he abruptly changed and left the dirty wash for somebody's treasure. Far too often he's seen people wander the upstairs in search of new clothing.

Have fun, he lightly thought to himself. Swinging open the door, he briskly made for the stairs and strode on down to the commons.

His initial inspection proved true, with nothing but a man slouching over a table with a bottle in hand present. The scent of filth wafted within nostrils, flaring in disgust as he took in that first breath of the dregs of society. Fitting, he considered, but not his style.

Before deciding to leave, Alex moved for the bar and sauntered through the break to consider morning drinking choices. A few choices for the road never hurt?

His particular goal for the morning, outside of obtaining a means of escaping from the city before much of the usual patrons congealed, was to actually deliver himself a glass of something that'd burn his insides right on up. He had heard of such drinks existing, but he wasn't aware if it was the wrong choice of drinks, or some anatomical issue. Regardless, a bottle was fetched from the shelf, and set to the counter.

It was about the same time that he heard the door swing open. Narrowing his gaze, he gripped the neck of the bottle tightly, intentions declaring that whomever it was chose a bad time to step inside. Baring teeth in a feral growl, he turned about on a heel to draw momentum for the bottle that he was just seconds from whipping.

What held him back was the cheery greeting, the notable silhouette that he could easily make out beyond the sunlight that gleamed within. Wincing a moment from the sudden eruption of light, he held back from attacking her with a bottle.

He'd really hate to do that to Shadow, of all people. Accident or otherwise.

"Shadow?" he quietly asked, clearly still suffering from morning sleepiness. He cleared his throat as the bottle was set aside, moving to slide through the break in the bar. "What are you doing here so early?"

Alex was quick to discover her attire after asking that, which caused him to awkwardly look her over several times with shocking, wide eyes as he approached her. Not so much at the jeans, which he himself was also adorning. But at the tank-top. He hadn't remembered ever seeing her in something quite that revealing. Even if it wasn't to much standard.

He cleared his throat a second time, eyes casting for the floor to advert his gaze. He knew he couldn't trust himself should he look at her for very much longer? "Uh, hey Shadow," he spoke weakly, coupled with a weak smile. "I didn't mean that in a negative sense. It's? it's really nice to see you." A heavy sense of genuine sincerity was dripping from his words. After all, he hadn't seen her in quite some time.

Alex's face twisted as he turned about to face the bar once more, uttering something audibly, but highly incoherent as he motioned ahead of him. "Would you like something to eat? Drink? Anything?"

A hand lifted over a shoulder, two fingers waving as if to dismiss her claim, "Peachy, kid. I don't tend to sleep well, if at all, anyway. Kind of grown accustomed to it." The bar was approached sluggishly, swinging through the break to put on a bit of coffee. It was one of the few, seldom options that he was thankful he understood how to craft.

Especially since his domestic understanding was slim, to none. He'd carry through the task with a thin sense of pride that was evident in adept movements.

"I just wasn't expecting anybody this early. Although," glancing her direction, looking just past her rather than onto her visage. "It's not that I'm complaining. You're much better company than most. So pay no mind to my? dismissive? Words." A toothy smile completed his hopeful compliment, while idly listening to the bubbling of the percolator.

He leaned onto the counter, elbows propping him up a decent amount. The cushions of either palm crafting a makeshift pillow for his chin to rest within, scrunching either cheek as fingers curled over his features prominently. "Training, huh? And here I was beginning to worry that you didn't have the urge to do any sort of thing," Alex mentions as dimly lit emeralds trailed towards her hip. He innocently inspected her figure, before landing onto the flashy, gem-set blade.

"Tell me, are you any good?" He slid up from his lean, turning about to fetch a dangling mug from the nearby rack, and moved to pour Shadow a cup. The pot was returned to the nearby burner. A hesitant observation was given to the dark liquid, deciding that he had done a satisfactory job. It was set onto the counter, cream and sugar packets added just nearby incase she was into those.

He was intrigued. Much more so, in appearance, than he normally was when engaged in conversation with just about anybody. If his attentiveness required any kind of indication, that raunchy book had yet to be whipped out from some hidden stash.

His escape from reality, when it became dull.

"A gift, mm? Am I to presume it does something to twist you up?" Already having heard of a transformation, of sorts, from Yami, he wasn't entirely impressed. He hip checked the counter, pressing away from it and drawing himself back through the break to the patron's side. He absolutely loathed being considered a tender, even though he nearly took up the job some years ago.

A chuckle resounded within his throat, coupled with a brief choke. Did he honestly just hear her mention a sense of perspective? "Wise words, Shadey. To somebody untrained with a blade, they'd consider themselves liable to lob off a limb. Of their own?" He motioned towards Shadow, then, indicating herself. "But to you, you'd consider yourself decent, having a fair share of knowledge, yet feeling perhaps you could? go beyond the looking glass?"

It was an indirect approach at requesting if she wished to be taught. And one he was unfamiliar with. For too long he had shared his own company when it came to bashing and maiming, yet somehow? he sensed something deeper in her. Something? he wanted to see.

Rather than mix words with understanding, Alex extended his left arm over the counter as he approached Shadow, drawing on a tremendous source of potent resource that caused the very air surrounding his arm to vibrate. Swirls of a golden aura mingling with a faint emerald that resembled the Aurora spiraled about his arm, congealing within his palm, open and taught. A blink of an eye could cause the eruption of a blade, a wire-frame mesh as though from a programmer's workbench, to be missed. Extending from the depths of the very power that had revealed itself within a moment's notice, it mutated into that of a physical source of reality. While the blade itself was concealed from hilt to tip in a worn, tattered linen wrap, an extremely noticeable, vibrant source of golden shone lively beyond the constraining cloth.

Sweeping the blade wildly, yet with a kind of grace that mimicked the hand motions of a baton twirler, Alex made a direct approach with it towards Shadow. Or, precisely, Shadow's exposed neck.

He'd have to see, for himself?

There was a gleam of mirth within an eye, watching her with extremely high expectations. For a lack of better understanding, it could be suggested he was? proud.

Twirling the blade with a flourish, he sunk it within the surface of the bar, knowingly that such a wound would heal within but mere seconds after the blade was removed. Releasing his tight grip, it fizzled out into a spray of emerald, showering the counter in a brilliance of beautiful color.

"Interesting," he lightly commented, eyes staring beyond that of her natural self, as though he was peering directly within her. Those eyes carried a sense beyond the standard visual, and he was focused on the aura of ebony. "Most interesting?"

His feeling to elaborate came empty, which resulted in him not expressing precisely what he found so intriguing. Running a finger underneath his nose to conceal the large smile that was being produced, he closed an eye. It was either a prolonged wink, or shrewd way to observe her. "Sorry. I just had to see what you were capable of. Nice form," merrily stated.

Surely, this was off-set of the noticeable darkening in her eyes. Yet, at the very same time, this sudden shift from subtle, to aggressive, and then back was but another mere test of what he knew was there.

Perhaps investing time in her wouldn't be such a terrible idea, after all?

"Why you, of course," he responded with, that finger angling Shadow's direction. The one-eyed stare switched, the other falling shut. "But you're quite aware you're an interesting girl, don't you?"

Something in his voice, the way he followed-up with the question, hinted that he was questioning not of her stature, her presence. But what laid beyond the crisp foreground that made up Shadow's existence.

He'd deny it, regardless of the when's or how's if such a thing got out.

"Awkward positions??" A brow shot up with the query, already delving into the unknown that was his mind; filled to the brim with images incapable of being shared. Even the prying eyes of those called 'telepaths' would find such difficulty understanding where he wound up heading. "Er, maybe not something I wish to know."

He barely skipped a beat as he trudged along with his brief exam. "I can see you're extremely capable of protecting yourself. But," he paused, eyes rolling to one side as he considered the words to choose. "Were you at all able to sense my intentions? I mean to say, were you able to feel my urge to avoid harming you, even though my actions showed otherwise?"

His cautious words came with an equal careful glance her way.

He listened to her story with several nods here or there to acknowledge that he was listening. Several glances were made to the nearby drunk, who he was almost hoping could flop from his seat helplessly in a raging fit of stupid.

Hoping.

"Curious, then. Do you have something else inside of you? Like, you know, literal inner demons?" He queried, motioning with a hand towards himself, as though he was willingly ready to bore fingers within his chest to imply further. "Or is this just some kind of power that you possess, which only responds to certain, strong emotions?"

Such things he was familiar with. Far too well. The thought of rolling onto a story of his own seemed appropriate, but he wasn't one to dig into the past, often. At least not unless it was requested of him. Safer, he always figured. "From personal experience, and that alone, I've gathered understanding that someone's intentions rarely reflect their actions towards another," he said, pausing in hesitation. "Like there, for example.

"I was weary of moving with the intention to strike you with full force. Such a fatal thing, should you truly not be prepared for it, wasn't my idea of a pleasing morning," he mused, although it could be read that he was carrying this with a serious tone. If nothing else, it was his way to apologize for coming at her so suddenly. "To read beyond standard, physical constraints."

Alex stepped before Shadow, lowering to a squat. The floor was just a bit too grime-encrusted for his tastes. Although, it did seem the various janitors that cleaned up the mucus that built up took pride in that you could probably eat off of it.

"But perhaps you don't need to read through intentions, considering the immense strength you possess. Something I'll have to judge for myself when it is most important of all."

Smiling, he reached out to pat her gently on a shoulder, rising back up to a stance. "Tell me more of this? gift of yours. Where did you first come across it? How? And did you use it to harm another, or protect another? yourself, perhaps?" To him, this was important. But it was means of a conversation, as well. Perhaps the idea of bonding had become an impressive reality.

He hesitated as he took that in. The spirit of a girl? He was always skeptical of ghost stories, or wandering spirits seeking some kind of vengeance on the living. It was startling, though. So many were into it, and believing it, of all things. He'd shy away from her, eyes lowering to be certain she wasn't floating around, or possessing some trait that resembled something of a spirit in his mind.

He briefly nodded then, "So you heal. You maim. You protect. You're like one of those legendary heroes that stories are about. I've heard of the sort, but never actually considered meeting one," he said proudly. It was remarkable how wide his smile was, no less. He was clearly impressed with what he's heard up to now.

A nearby table was claimed, forgetting all about making sure he was to be on his way to avoid the morning rush. If it was ever to come. He sat on the near edge, a hand lowering to clamp down to refrain from falling off. Accident prone, after all. "Well, what I mean by most important is, and especially if they're reactive to emotion, is that when you are truly in danger, or someone you know or love is in danger, they'll truly come alive. Something I'll have to judge. Er, for a lack of a better word." Which was twisted in it's own right. There were many situations that could provoke such high emotion, but if she, or he were placed in a sincere danger? Not his cup of tea. Or hope. "It may sound bad," the realization hitting him like a brick wall right then. "But that's kind of what I mean. I, uh, I think. I don't know.." Frowning. His mind had become a jumble. Words weren't any more capable than those of the uttering drunk. Who, he swore, was on the cusp of falling. So close!

Her story intrigued him. Heavily. He barely found means of squirming, or feeling restless from being propelled into what he'd otherwise consider a 'story-hour'. No, it was something much greater than that. A means of truly understanding origins. He was remarkably interested in this, yet one thing brushed him off an odd way.

"You slaughtered a whole village of people...?" he whispered, barely audible beyond the breaths he took. He was shocked, no, horrified to hear such words come from her. Of all people.

If what truly rested inside of her was something so fierce?

He scooped up his placement on the table, closing the distance between them in several long strides. "Your story? I am sorry to hear this. Truly," genuinely apologizing. Even though he was not the one that had committed the act, nor taken any true part. He still felt that deep pit. Sickening as it were.

He could relate. All too well. The ghosts of his own pasts were always haunting him, creating stress and anger where naturally he hid away. The addition to refuge, taking himself out of the picture, and out of peoples lives? it was?

"I don't know what to say, really. I. I'm just? sorry. I wasn't intending to bring something up like that?" The ways he could describe how bad he felt. They were limitless. Truly. Limitless.

He accepted the hug with one of his own. It felt so miniscules compared to his sincereity, but it was a damn good start. A light pat followed with the hold, touching on a baseline of soothing notions. Just in case? he'd hate to think he made her break down on some level.

Stepping back, and nearly taking claim of the table once again, his eyes fell into the collar that was gestured towards. Narrowing his eyes, he watched it as she explained, his own gears churning so loudly that he nearly drained her own explanation out.

The first word he picked up on was 'frequency', eyes lifting to meet her own gaze. "That's absurd, Shadow," spoken as though he understood the whole scheme. That couldn't be further from the truth, but he felt he know her. Understand her. Was it just his hopes that swallowed it, causing him to say such? "I mean, with a little bit of work, I'm sure we could help you maintain a steady control of your powers, no doubt."

A faint shake of his head removed the fierce echoes that banged in his head, the various words finally catching up with his thought process. Glazed, his stare moved to meet her eyes. "If it's shutting everything down, there's obviously a central point where this must be happening. Be it through this connection of yours, or from some other, uncertain property that has yet to be seen. On your person?

"When I used to exercise my physical force, I'd shut my own magical power down, sealing it into certain bindings. These bindings acted like sealed, locked doors. And no matter how much I would try to use my power, nothing would come. Interestingly, this sounds like something similar, but instead has applied all sorts of limits rather than locking you out all together. Which, may make this somewhat easier to understand?

"How do you feel when you exert your powers? Before it's shut down, as you say?" Curiously, his eyes fell into her wrists, bouncing along her thighs and down to her ankles. He was urging his own conclusions. Yet, hadn't enough information to truly have them at the same time. "Because I'm guessing what they've done is applied it just enough to prevent you from using something in specific. Hm?"

Alex quietly observed the rune, fingers lifting and writhing to take an extremely close look at it through action and reaction. He'd refrain from making physical contact with such an etching; he didn't care to make any disturbance. "So you're entirely uncertain of its origins? All together? This is rather problematic, to be sure?"

He exhaled sharply through his nose, eyes casting aside from the revealed rune while he along went into a brief state of thought. If there was any information on this kind of style, the best place to consider looking was the various tomes he possessed. He'd remember to research it, later.

Offering her small nods in understanding, having seen it long enough to etch a clear picture in his head, he backed away to look at her more directly. "Then you've never encountered any issues that involve, say, overloading the limits?" His gaze shifted once again, this time in thought. "Well that's obvious? if you could overload it, you would have done so, already? All right, tell you what," Alex declared, hands clapping together as a plan had begun to once again formulate. "In order for us to get a clear picture of what we're dealing with, I'm going to have to see it in action. With emotions, with power.

Once I'm able to understand what you have placed on you, I'm pretty sure I can help you create shortcuts that could feasibly avoid these limits put on you, altogether!"

The idea of guiding somebody along like he were a tutor was something not generally acceptable, even to himself. He taught Aka all he knew, however, and she was wildly accepting. He was confident he could help. And besides, this gave a further excuse for him to be within company of Shadow, in specific.

Pausing, he gripped the underneath of his shirt and pulled up to reveal his torso. Faint, shimmering runes, like stone baked in a desert sun, came to life at the sudden difference in lighting and temperature. They dazzled about his ribcage, dancing in delicate weaves across his built pectoral region. They clearly disappeared beyond his shoulders, and suggesting from the detail, riddled his back all the same. Several branches also etched over his muscled, refined abs. Two pointed tips, like the end of a sharpened pencil, rested just above the waistline of his torn pair of jeans, suggesting a central point of origin. He gestured over his entire torso to suggest 'take a look'. "I'm familiar with runes. With their purpose and what they're there for. These here, for example," he began, lowering the shirt lazily to cover himself back up. "Are to amplify power sources, both exterior and interior. They're conjoined together to create a fluid motion of power, like running on several conveyer belts to increase a source of momentum. In short, increase natural limits. I did them myself.

"If what you possess is to hinder limits and shut you down, I would imagine that creating openings within the seal itself should help create holes, so to speak. For? a lack of a better word." His nose clearly wrinkled at the word 'seal', suggesting his own choice wasn't optional. He hadn't enough information to suggest it as such. It seemed best-fitting, though.

"Yet, once again, I'm left with little understanding of this bond you say that you share. If this plays a bigger part?" He trailed off, shaking his head in sheer disappointment. It wasn't clear of what, however. "I'll tell you what. Let's get a better understanding of this, together. I'm sure until we can learn about it in full, I can help you advert some of this power of yours through 'shortcuts', feasibly avoiding certain aspects of these 'limits'. What do you say? I promise I'm not a hard teacher. Especially not to such a good l? student like yourself!" He hardly skipped a beat in his near hesitation with speaking out. He bit back saying anything further, instead opting to smile broadly. It kept the hazy feeling of smacking himself silly in check.

He shrugged meekly to her, hands lifting in the air near shoulder-length. "If you don't think that anything will become an issue if we toy around with your capabilities, then I won't hold back.

"Just try to keep in mind, everything is for the benefit of research. No matter the circumstance. Nor what I may or may not ask of you, at times. If there's a central core we're supposed to be working with, I'll find it," he said, meanwhile reaching over to tap her gently top of the head with a finger.

He glanced back over towards the drunk, eyes flitting across his frame as Alex adjusted course to stalk in that direction. "That is going to be one hell of a hangover, with the amount he's consumed, atop of whatever it is you did to him," he quietly commented, glancing Shadow's way as he rounded the seat, hands resting on the man's shoulders. "He is going to wake up, isn't he? Actual kills tend to require a little more subtly." Clearly, hazing was of another branch on the giant tree of random chivalry from one Alex Ravenlock

He grinned, "Just as long as you're kept in line. I'd hate to have to slap you on the wrists and tell you 'no'." Which, judging from his tone, he wouldn't even dare do so even if she was to cross some line along the way.

Her explanation of dark auras and energy surges were noted, although there was heavy indications that he understood what she was detailing. He didn't draw his attention away from the drunk as the explanation continued. "I'm not sure I understand," contrary to his presented knowledge. "Would purging the alcohol from him not also purge him of his very blood?"

He just needed to hear from her the extent of which she was explaining. This gift of hers, were it a true realization? It chilled him, at the very same time attracted him to her all the much more. His gaze drifted to the several glasses of consumed liquor that lingered on the table, falling smug to the indication. "Addiction is but a habit. You're quite wise to realize that even should you find means of correcting his addiction, the path would be traversed heavily down, elsewhere."

Looking onto Shadow, he smiled. One that spoke of admiration for wisdom he was seldom in company of. Rare, that mind set had become. "I.." He stopped as her eyes lit up like faint stars twinkling in a setting twilight sky. Also unfamiliar with many that carried the very trait he himself had, he watched with eagerness.

His fingers brushed away lavender, stubborn that it had become over the years he failed to train it, learning a lot more than he had originally considered possible under such a short period of time. His mind, like a notepad, jotted down hundreds of notes that were quietly pondered and fiddled with as he moved closer to Shadow, and that of the drunk that she was working her wondrous charm upon. "Yet, in the end, it will still forever be up to them whether they choose to abide by the help that is applied to them, for only they carry the key to unlocking the gates for a healthy, longer life."

Baffled, he was, by his own words. Tilting his head to one side, he reconsidered the words he spoke aloud. However, no better choosing could be mustered. And, like the impulsiveness of his furthering continuation of her own words, he reached over to gently squeeze a shoulder of the man slumped on the table.

He? hoped for the best.

"I believe, Shadow, you have done more for this poor man than the casual may have ever considered. Through talking to him to help guide him from this unsavory path, to kicking his nasty habit with something more productive. I really am impressed?" he trailed off, starry-eyed as he lifted his gaze to meet hers. "Despite the unwonted kindness of this gesture, you have aided him in some passive, magnificant way. Regardless if he is ever to know, or not. And I believe, there, that is the most important factor."

All things aside? "I'm afraid that I may have carried a misinformed sense about you. This? aggression that I feel within you. It is ? highly countered by your urges to? aid. And I can't place it at all."

His own nose scrunched as he looked down, and away. His wants to tap within was being sapped away at the slightest implications. Surely, he carried other emotions that he was already unable to fight. But, the random acts of kindness. That was where the proverbial line was being crossed.

"I? believe I would much prefer seeing these bindings of yours being sidestepped for certain, now. I would? very much be broken-hearted to see them crushed, or removed entirely." Glances were given to the drunk, having judged the symbolic gesture with his very own eyes this time around. "Your kindness. It is? something of a rare breed. I?" he paused longer than average, uncertainy gleaming within his eyes as he looked back upon her. Even though it was bright within the inn that morning, his pupils had shrunken to but meer periods that dot a paper. "I would hate to lose it in a world of greed."

He knew he couldn't wind up making another mistake with somebody that went under his guide. The misinformed teachings, and selfish urges to gain another source of power somewhere along the way. The plots and hazards to harm one, while empowering his own.

Not this time? and he'd stop at nothing to make damn sure of it.

"I promise?" he announced to her, lifting a hand out before her. He hadn't voiced why the otherwise random pledge was being made, but perhaps it wasn't throughly required right then.

Alex was hesitant, although he couldn't understand his own reasons as to why. Perhaps it was the idea that if something went wrong, he was worried he'd remarkably become shit-faced, and have his entire day wrecked. He was well aware how his drunken antics were the cause of high alarm, and if anything, he preferred the nights?

A glance was given to his wrist as she reached for it, lifting it to allow her to take it. If possible, he'd move his hand out to allow her that, instead. Although she continued before he could respond to her preparation, Alex still nodded his head a faint amount, his own eyes closing briefly as his form accepted the brilliant green was coaxed into acceptance, allow it to do what it will. Warm, tingling like he was basking in the sun on the coast of a beach, eased stress that was building up over the past months, possibly years, or stretched out to an entire lifetime. He felt at ease with the flood, which was an uncommon sight when something was to conjoin with his own. He? felt he could trust her.

Once the tingles subsided and he was left basking in solely her power, his gaze drifted before the crimson splotches that intermingled with the color. Alex hadn't any warning about the following channeling of sapphire, an eye closing in a faint wince. Again, it triggered warmth as his body quickly adapted, sending a brief chill to run down the length of his spine. That, in itself, was intoxicating. Although if it was because it was from Shadow, or sheerly a sense of 'something different' he couldn't be for sure.

Once the energy began to fade, his eyes fell onto the drunk, emeralds narrowing in expectation as Shadow explained to a betted detail what had transpired. The glare fell to disgust, his lips clearly showing such. "We aren't going to need an umbrella, are we??" he mused, eyes moving back onto Shadow with a hint of a smile creasing the corner of his mouth.

It was not so easy to detail this within his research papers, nor how to firmly categorize it beyond what she'd call it, "Healing". However, already the gears were turning in his head, figuring that this particular trick could make quite an amusing prank. Mental notes were established for observation, later.

"How far can this power carry?" he asked, pausing a moment to clarify. "What I mean to ask is? can this be done with transferring a certain power from somebody to someone else? Like, stealing a particular genetic that allows a person to possess something?"

He nodded gently to her as he watched the staggering man take off for the bathroom. He couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh. Shadow one, people of Rhydin zero! For a reason he wouldn't explain, and only if he didn't feel resistance on her end, he left his hand placed within hers, though didn't draw any attention to it, or himself by the gesture, by looking at the contact. He kept a sly posture, and refocused his attention onto medium blues.

"Up until several years ago," he began, shifting in his posture to lean against the table, as well. "I used to possess a certain ability that would allow me to funnel certain aspects of a person into myself, literally causing a transformation of power on a whim.

"While I do not carry the exact accessories to do such a thing anymore, I believe I have been able to recreate it by sampling the power they release, rather than take it outright. And since life force is normally more potent than a spell or ability, I'm more often than not able to extract that into myself. Granted,"" he paused, glancing in the direction of the man running off to the bathroom. "I have to get rid of anything else that I didn't break down. But, that's more fun than private bathroom humor." For some reason, his face felt hot. Hotter than if he was spending a day at the beach, bathing in the sun to build an incredible tan. His gaze remained diverted, at least until he could catch a reason as to why he felt warmer than average, the inevitable red stinging his cheeks.

"Normally, in a fire fight, I just use their attacks against themselves. It's a quick way to adapt to a situation, even if the first time is generally a painful experience," smiling to himself. Since Alex had little time to discover the source of the flushed coloring of his cheeks, he opted to give Shadow a brief glance to indicate he was still possessing a sense of manners. He was talking with her, after all?