CLOSED ♔ two of a kind and no one home

[behindcloseddoors]

WHO || Elena, Kyp, Spike
WHAT || Elena takes some lessons from the doppelganger
WHERE || Chicago, the Waldorf hotel
WHEN || July 13th, onwards, evening
HOW || Actionspam

[ With a surprising amount of overall support from the team, Elena gets the opportunity to return to the Waldorf without having to sneak around her teammates, to continue her 'doppel-lessons' from Kyp.

Of course, she doesn't get to go alone, and Spike has volunteered to play guard dog. The hotel is relatively quiet as they arrive this fine evening. ]

Comments

[bigbad]

[He raises his eyebrows, clearly not convinced.]

We'll see.

[But he's not going to stop them from training. Provided nothing evil seems to be going on, at least...]

[imposturing]

We need to start by building up your body's reflexive resistances, which means initially exposing it to magic until we can kick in your instinctive responses.

[notaroundme]

O-kay.

[The amount that Elena knows about using/understanding magic? Pretty much zero.]

What kind of magic?

[In other words, are we starting the pain training already too?]

[imposturing]

Thinking the worst already? [ he smirks, amused, and it's unclear whether he picked up her unvoiced thought or whether he just guessed it. out of a bag on the dresser, he pulls out a tiny canister of what looks like department store pepper spray. ] Nothing like that.

[notaroundme]

Can you blame me for being a little nervous?

[She moves further into the room, eyes on the can.]

[imposturing]

If this is the most terrifying thing you've ever encountered, I'd be surprised. [ he looks down at the canister and taps it. ] Magic in a can. The modern world is full of wonders.

[notaroundme]

[A corner of her mouth perks at that, and she nearly laughs.]

I said nervous, not terrified.

[Okay, wait what?]

You can just...put magic in a can?

[imposturing]

I can't, but mages can.

It's a sleep spell. You can buy 'em almost anywhere you can get mace these days. A good way to stop a predator. [ smirk ] Good for our purposes too.

[notaroundme]

[Have a look, because that was totally a generalized you.]

I guess I don't get out much.

[Too busy saving the world from evil bad guys lol]

So, essentially, I should be able to build up some sort of natural resistance?

[imposturing]

[ wow it wasn't, even. HE SPENDS HALF HIS TIME AS A LADY NEVER 5GET. ] That's the gist, yeah. But it takes an effort of will from you. Me knocking you out a hundred times won't do it.

[notaroundme]

[sobbing]

It doesn't sound as simple as just...trying not to fall asleep.

[imposturing]

It isn't. What you're trying to do is actually drop your own defensive reactions. You have to try not to try, to allow your body to wake up its natural defenses.

[notaroundme]

[She's not entirely sure she understands entirely, but she at least gets the idea that dropping her own instincts will be difficult.]

So I have to not try to resist, but not fall asleep either.

[Sounds counter-productive, but okay.]

If I do it right, it should just...work?

[imposturing]

Probably not the first thing. Your magical reflexes are weak. It's gonna take some drilling.

[notaroundme]

[Yeah, this is going to be a matter of trial and error, she's pretty sure.]

Alright, might as well give it a go and see what happens, I guess. Practice makes perfect and all that jazz.

[imposturing]

You might want to stand next to the bed in case you -- [ he mimes falling with his hand and then uncaps the stuff. and once she's in place, he squirts her right in the face. annnd she'll have to make a will save... ]

[notaroundme]

Right. Good point.

[And she'll just wander over and happily get shot in the face with magical sleeping powder.

And apparently she doesn't even flinch. (Will save 25)]

[bigbad]

[Spike won't interrupt but HE DEFINITELY DOES NOT LIKE THE DIRECTION THIS IS GOING in case anyone was wondering what the scowling is for. When Kyp sprays Elena with magical sleep dust (which sounds SUPER SKETCHY) he steps forward, but doesn't try to stop him.]

[imposturing]

[ kyp raises an eyebrow, looking down at the canister and shaking it ] ... Is this thing expired?

[notaroundme]

[Elena gives Spike a grateful look before she glances down at the can.]

Can magic...do that? Expire?

[imposturing]

Not really, no. Any chance you've already been exposed to high amounts of magic? That this stuff might already be awake in you?

[notaroundme]

I only have memories of the last ten months of my life. So, yeah, I guess it's technically possible and I just don't remember.

[imposturing]

Well, isn't that an interesting possibility. Guess I'll need to stock up on some stronger stuff.

[notaroundme]

Interesting is one way to look at it. Frustrating is another. There's nothing I can do about it, though.

[Stronger stuff, eh? She feels a little proud of herself.]

I'll take that as a good thing.

[bigbad]

Can't say I love the idea of stronger stuff. [Even if this one didn't hurt Elena. Too easy to see the stronger stuff going more awry.]