Welcome to Gaia! ::

In the day since that stupid game world, Jason didn't find himself calming down at all. Not even with a visit to his Wonder. And especially during the day. Everything was too bright, too loud, too annoying. He was tired and food just did...nothing. He'd end a meal feeling even hungrier after. And that irritation had him lashing out, not bother for the slow, calculated little bits of revenge he generally favoured. His roommate had especially payed for it.

If before, that greasy little weasel had considered older Everleigh to be on the more mature, forever tolerant side, he'd learned a decisive lesson that evening. Jason was very capable of hurting those who crossed his line, and he was very good at not leaving bruises.

But later that left Halle, who still had that fight welling up in him and who had too much strength not to leave behind some bruises. There was really only one person who he felt comfortable enough to call out for it though. And even with her, he'd been hesitating. And in this moment, he couldn't really remember why.

Pulling out a sharpie and a piece of notebook paper, Halle wrote Mechelen to meet him tonight at the same park as last time. It was time to trade some punches.

For real this time.

In the back of his mind, seeing her show up, Halle put Mechelen much more firmly in the ally category. Where before she was more of a friendly acquaintance, this signaled someone he could possibly rely on in the future. It was kind of odd, really, to suddenly have that sort of relationship with someone he'd just met, someone around his age and not some adult with a very specific role toward him. The sudden stakes of DC's hidden war were already changing how he related to people.

Both with near-strangers...and the person who was supposed to be closest to him.

"Hey," Halle nodded, "....it's been a busy time. Another Lysithea page got her power-up. Weird games showing up outta nowhere."

He squared off against her, feet firmly planted, "How's following the auras gone for you?"

"I haven't," Halle admitted. "But I need to stop hesitating with it." He'd been, he felt, overcautious. At some point it was time to stop training and planning, and start doing.

He was able to move with her little punch, which he didn't manage to dodge entirely, but it was light enough to be easily blocked. "Can't always rely on your boots to do all the damage," he taunted. and this time he finally threw a punch at Mechelen.

"You can kick me too," Halle offered with a grin, also a little proud of himself for letting go of more of those pesky hesitations. When she hit him back he let out a small grunt and...

"I know that should have hurt at least a little, but it didn't?" Halle considered the options. "Do you think we have some kind of innate shield?" And this time he kicked at her.

"Did that hurt?"

The shove didn't do much more than startle a laugh out of him, "It stands to reason, but I want to know more than just," he waggled his fingers, "...it's just magic doing magic stuff."

But, if magic was protecting them, then they could be less careful in a spar, right? Grabbing the arm that shoved at him, Halle kicked out again to trip Mechelen. "Sure, I'll give you my-"

"Oh ships," Halle hissed, and if his blood had been running a bit hot before the spar it had definitely cooled down now. "I am so sorry! That is...way too much blood." He crouched down to get a closer look before remembering that Mechelen was a girl. In a dress.

"I'm taking you to an urgent care." Even as he spoke, he was checking the area for any extra auras and then powering down. "Can you walk? I'll call a Lyft."

"Don't look at me like that," Jason huffed, "...at least get angry at me or something." Instead he looked away himself, feeling all the worse. "I'm Jason. Nice to beat you...MEET. I mean meet you. It's nice!"