who the hell really knows how quadrants work to begin with

[kingsroads]

Who: the Psiioniic and Jonathan Strange
Where: Psi's trailer
When: forward dated a smidge to Day 91
What: Psi wants an antagonistic relationship, Strange is a shit, time for PETTY NONSENSE.
Warnings: drastic misunderstandings of troll relationships but aside from that, nothing. this is gonna be dumb.

Thank heavens that mushi nonsense is all over and done. After accidentally dispelling the mizukagami (by...looking at it, don't ask Strange how that happened), the magician slept for a ridiculous amount of time and woke up feeling refreshed, restored, and straight up ready to bother Psi. Truth be told, he still hasn't entirely grasped why Psiioniic needed that sort of antagonistic relationship to begin with—he had filed it away as some sort of troll thing and left it at that. What was important was that Strange liked the man, he sounded terribly grumpy over the radio, and apparently having someone to be an asshole at can help get rid of that grumpiness.

So, he slipped into Psi's trailer when the troll wasn't there, sneaking in via his usual way of transport, arriving in the trailer through a mirror. The first act of petty nonsense in an attempt to relieve aggression will be just that: absolutely petty, as Strange starts rearranging the trailer as best he can. Strange has no qualms going through Psi's things as he moves everything about and generally puts things out of sorts. Glasses are set where knickknacks usually stand, clothes are going in the kitchen cupboards, and some different knickknacks are hidden in the bathroom cupboards. All in all, he thinks he's doing a fairly good job.

The problem here is that while Strange checked to make certain Psiioniic was out before sneaking in, he didn't check to see when he'd come BACK. So, the door opens right as Strange picks up one of Psi's crappy knicknacks, planning to stash it under his bed and Strange just freezes as he's straight up caught in the act.

"Ah. Hello there."

Comments

[kingsroads]

Entirely unaware that this dialogue is getting a little bit porny, Strange responds to Psi sizing him up with a defiant little smirk of his own. That is, until the troll summons his psionics and Strange can't help but frown. Well that's interesting. He hasn't seen much of the Psionic's...well, psionics. Strange's lack of an attention span means that the conversation veers straight into a different direction, away from him being a nuisance into him being an inquisitive nuisance.

Hopefully he'll remember to be an annoying shit later. As it is, he's not making any attempt to get out of Psi's way either, letting the troll corner him.

"I don't think I've seen that before," said as he gestures vaguely in the direction of Psi's head. "What is that sparkling to begin with?"

[dorkypantsuit]

The topic change is sudden and he finds himself taking a step back as he puts a hand to his head. He thinks Strange means his horns or his antennae at first, before cluing into the fact that he must be talking about his psionics.

"Oh." he starts, "Oh, that's... Those are just my psionics."

He's not sure which human cultures are and aren't familiar with the word, but he's had this conversation enough to anticipate at least some confusion.

"The let me move things without touching them physically. Among other things."

For example, he could take that figurine from Strange's grip without moving a muscle, and he does so, a soft purple glow surrounding him and the object as he pulls it from Strange's hand with a thought. The object flies into the Psionic's own grip and the purple glow around it and the troll disappear as quickly as they came.

[kingsroads]

Huh. The Psionic can make psionics. Could a troll who was a magician be named the Magician? It all sounds terribly boring and far too on the nose. Really, between this and their conversation ages ago where Strange had to explain to Psionic why so many Englishmen were named 'John', it's really shown him just how little he knows about troll society.

Still, he lets out a brief noise of annoyance, as Psi uses his psionics to take the figure away from him. Strange gives the troll an almost comical frown moments before deciding well, there's plenty of other knicknacks in the trailer, might as well use one of those instead. So, he attempts to wriggle out from between Psi and the counter, obviously eying a glass that's sitting on the table. Of course, Strange being Strange, he's being terribly nosy and asking questions as he does so.

"So were you the Psionic before your psionics or are you the Psionic because of your psionics?"

Hopefully that question makes sense.

[dorkypantsuit]

He smirks, watching Strange in amusement as he hastily steps away. The human gets a step or two away before he's suddenly stopped in his tracks. The same purple glow from before is now wrapped around Strange's foot, holding it to the ground and stopping him from moving further.

"I was always a psionic, but I went by a different name before if that's what you mean."

He turns to face Strange, continuing to hold the other man in place before he moves to set the knick knack in his hand back where it belongs.

"Psionic abilities aren't uncommon on Alternia so it would be weird if your hatching name was based on something like that."

[kingsroads]

Well, he can't move now. Strange frowns as he looks down at his foot, yanking it slightly before the dots connect and oh how interesting, he had no idea psionics could do that. He bends down slightly and awkwardly, to try and get a better look at the psionics holding him down.

Still, at Psi's explanation, Strange can't help but nod. "It would be a bit like naming your child 'the Musician', I suppose."

He's still yanking at the psionics, trying to find a way to squirm his leg out of this while still keeping up idle conversation. Of course, he would like to move eventually. But at the same time, he doesn't really want to do any sort of magic that would destroy Psi's trailer. And also, they're inside, which limits his choices even further. Strange frowns a bit, considering his options. Well, at least he could make Psi a bit uncomfortable while he's still mulling these things over. Strange pauses for a moment before he mutters a spell. Slowly, the temperature in the room starts to drop. Make things cold might not be the most impressive spell around but again, he doesn't have many options here.

[dorkypantsuit]

He notices the temperature change quickly, his antennae picking up on the fluctuation before it even registers with the rest of him. His smirk from before widens as he realizes Strange is fighting back. It was amusing before to think that Strange had entered an antagonistic relationship like this without even knowing what the Psionic was capable of. Now it was even more amusing to see his attempt to retaliate. The Psionic may not understand much about magic, but he did know that magic users varied in power as much as psionic trolls did. He knew Strange must have been somewhat capable, otherwise he wouldn't have a position as a night rider. So was he trying to go easy on the Psionic? Did Strange underestimate him? Or was this merely some kind of warm up?

The telekinetic hold on Strange's leg suddenly vanishes, and with it the purple glow from before.

"So then I hope you can assume what a title like the Psionic implies."

And if he sounds a little bit full of himself, it's because he is.

[kingsroads]

As the hold on his leg vanishes, Strange stumbles forward awkwardly before righting himself up, straightening up as if nothing's happened at all. Psi's hold might vanish but Strange doesn't stop the spell. The air drops to an even cooler temperature as frost starts to creep down from the top of Psi's cabinets.

"I assume it would be like if I was called the Magician. It means that all the other psionics of your world aren't as powerful as you are," said with a cursory nod. There's no reason trying to lessen the impact or try to sound modest. After all, as someone who was called the one of the greatest magicians of the age, Strange isn't going to try and pretend that Psionic isn't as powerful as he actually is. Egomania and arrogance acknowledged egomania and arrogance.

[dorkypantsuit]

He points a finger at Strange at his correct explanation, smirking and looking clearly amused by the man's little stumble. The air continues to get colder, the Psionic's breath turning to clouds in the air and he starts to shiver. He's a bug-person, from a dry planet with a very hot sun. He's built to withstand heat and he isn't used to, nor does he like, the cold. So, if Strange was going to persist despite his newfound knowledge of the Psionic's power it meant there wasn't really any need for Psi to go easy on him.

Without even moving his powers push at Strange. There's no visible evidence of it except for the purple glow that's starting to surround the Psionic himself. It's not enough force to knock Strange down, or to push him off his feet, but it is enough force to have the other man stumbling backwards.

"So long as you know who you're dealing with."

[kingsroads]

Being an Englishman, Strange at least tolerates the cold better than Psi, even if he also doesn't like it. So, he remains calm yet smug, hands behind his back...until Psi's psionics knock him backward a bit. Again, he stumbles a little but quickly manages to get back on his feet.

"Likewise, I hope you realize just who you're dealing with." There's a pause as Strange realizes oh, no, wait, all he's done is made it cold. "Or, at least, you realize who you're dealing with after we go outside. I'd hate to accidentally break any of your things while showing off."

Look, he's considerate! And also knows his limitations, which mostly consist of Strange being absolutely unable to do anything small scale.

[dorkypantsuit]

He laughs, shaking his head. He very much doubts anything Strange can do will surprise him after the shit he's seen magic users do here at the carnival, but he was willing to let the man try, at least.

"Sure, just turn the ice off. I don't want my cat to freeze to death."

[kingsroads]

With a wave of his hand, Strange casts the spell and the cold starts to melt and the ice recedes, vanishing into nothingness. It'll take a minute or so for everything to settle back to the right temperature but that doesn't bother Strange, as he starts to leave the trailer, walking out towards an open space in the supervisor's grove with a little smile on his face.

Hell yeah, time to show off.

"Coming?"