Cold Currents
2th of February 2007 A.D.
Just on the living room threashold, starring down at the carpet you hesitate. Maybe it is best to just leave him at home. Going to Boston you definitely weren't expecting demon batman.
So just don't pull on the threads if any should show up... Usum is too deferment to say anything, but doubt hums at the back of your mind. Send him straight back to Chicago if I feel the urge to start yanking. "Mom we're just going to talk to some spirits who used to ride with Lydia's father..."
As she turns to look at her one can practically see her building a head of steam.
'It's OK, I've got this,' you try to tell Daniel with your eyes. "Who were granted leave to remain on the land by Saint David. They are called canwyll corph, death lights, not for bringing death, but giving warning. They mark when someone's going to die, giving them time to say goodbye. They help people just like we are trying to do. This is just... a job offer."
Name-dropping a saint had taken a bit of the wind out of her sails and she does not seem to doubt it, but you'd left an obvious opening. "Then why didn't
her father come back for them? If it was too dangerous for him...."
"Same reason Lydia's never been on a plane in her life,
Mab." You sound out the name intentionally for effect. "It was too dangerous for her to fly until last year, just it was too dangerous for her to go to Wales even though she spoke Welsh from the cradle, just like it was too dangerous for her to go to school with other kids. Now she just wants to share that..." you sigh, mostly-but-not-entirely faking it. "I think she might be going to a little too fast, trying to make up for all the years she feels she lost." That is mostly the demon pacts not wanting to find the Hounds, but not something you'll be sharing with Mom. "I think she wants to show Daniel where she's
from, not where she was born but you know... like how Izzy wants to go visit Ireland after high school."
Reminded that this isn't just a Daniel's magical girlfriend going to a foreign country to do magic, but also a sixteen year old girl reaching past the limits of a pretty odd and restrictive upbringing.
"
Where are you planning on going?" That is still a 'you' that very much does not include Daniel, but she is asking. "You said something about a swamp"
"The
Teifi Marshes. Check out what I found online, this is really cool..." Through Clippy's intercession the murmuration of thousands upon thousands of starlings, the rustling of the leaves below. "It's peaceful, I have to say I could use some peace and quiet after last month."
After you successfully weather the weight of her bullshit detector, nothing of what you said is a lie she sauys the words Daniel must have been praying for. "I'll talk to your Dad about it and we'll decide."
She knows and you know and Daniel knows too that your dad would have backed her with this Wales thing, in fact she might have spoken to him already, but he's cover so she doesn't have to admit to having been talked around.
As the two of you head upstairs to make sure his pasport is where he left it you mutter: "You owe me, bigtime."
To which your brother nods fervently and asks: "
How do you keep doing that?"
"Magic, I make myself supernaturally good at talking," you admit.
"Makes sense," he nods and neither of you question it.
"Speaking of supernatural talkers..." You start to explain Tiffany, knowing that if you didn't she would at whatever time and in whichever way she'd find the most entertaining.
You did want to get involved with this brother mine, no one promised comfortable answers, just true ones.
***
3rd of February 2007 A.D.
There is no direct flight from O'Hare to Cardiff but there is an overnight one to Amsterdam that only comes with a 90 minutes layover. So you share around some of your 'special coffee' before you get on the plane, before you get in the airport really, you do not want the TSA in the same building as the stuff and you are in the air by 9 PM.
"Oof I'm not sure if this would be the worst or the best place to die," Lydia mutters under her breath as you are killing time in a half empty waiting room.
"Because of how liminal it is?" Daniel asks, perking up, to which Lydia gives a very proud smile. 'See how clever my boyfriend is,' the expression seems to say.
Midnight passes over the Atlantic as. with a little encouragement from Lydia Daniel talks about his training in Fivefold Howling Style. Half grueling real world exercises, half holodeck-training under the influence of subtle arcane algorithms Daniel had managed in two months what some do not manage with years or even decades of training, he's unlocked his Chi and mastered the first step in the Way of Howling, the House of Domination concerned with channeling the raw power akin to Great Storms into devastating, but exhausting elemental attacks. Of course he would go for that.
"Just for the record trying to become the rock so I can punch bullets out of the air... that's hard," he informs you.
"Ye don't say." You start to mock punch him, but when he catches your fist for just a moment, his skin is even colder than yours.
Daniel Unlocks his Chi 10/10
Daniel Gains Howling •: Icy Palm Strike
In the first move of the Howling, the disciple calls on the foundation of the world, the ice beneath.
Spend a Yin Chi and roll Stamina+Brawl or Melee (DC 7) as part of a normal attack. If the attack hits (doesn't need to deal damage, just succeed), the icy grip of this power reduces the dice for the foe's next attack by the successes.
As you are getting your bags off the plane Tiffany stops you. "Do you want me to help with that? Your brother I mean, not offer him a pact of course, but just let him skip all the physical conditioning."
"You realize you sound like a stereotypical villain in a PSA right?" you ask her.
"Of course, that just makes it sound more appealing," she laughs.
Briefly you consider asking if the Denarians had something to do with anti-drug PSAs being as bad as they are, then you decide against it. Some things you're better off not knowing.
Should Tiffany offer to max out Daniel's Physical stats at 5?
[] Yes, if your brother's going to be out there looking for trouble you want him to have all the advantages he can get
[] No, 'power comes from bargains' is not a lesson you want Daniel learning even if it is harmless this time
[] Write in
OOC: And there we have it, Daniel is very, very technically a magical practitioner, he cannot touch magic outside of himself, but he can turn his own chi into supernatural cold in roundabout imitation of Molly. 
