Fourth Baptism [Action] (backdated to the 29th)

[amonglions]

[December 29th, 1890. It's a date that's forever seared in Booker DeWitt's mind as being a day he takes his drinking very seriously.

When he started drinking, it was to forget what he had done on that very day - another solider handed him a half-empty bottle to help him sleep and the rest, as they say, was history. Booker drank to forget and to actually get through a night without having horrifying, bloody nightmares. He knew he deserved to have them but he couldn't go without sleep without going absolutely insane. Drinking kept him going on a day to day basis more often than not.

He'd done well to avoid people today and consumed far more than was average of bottles of whiskey for him. Normally he would ease back a good sixteen beers through the day, a shot or two of whiskey interspersed - but that was when things were good. Today was probably one of the worst: this and the day he sold Anna were anniversaries he made a point not to remember. December 29th was a whiskey only kind of day.

Unfortunately for the world, Booker never had the Vigors at his disposal on this particular anniversary. Being in a city didn't allow him the freedom to just start doing what he liked because he was bored and... well, call it stubbornness or just simple ignorance but Booker won't go near the Battle Dome if he can avoid it. As such, he's improvised a little shooting range of sorts - setting up old empty bottles as targets to pick off and distract himself by doing so. If he had an unlimited supply of ammunition for his pistol he would use it but seeing as how he just found some genuine Salts in the Items shop before Christmas...

well he decided it'd be a good time to make sure he wasn't getting rusty with them. At least, that was his reasoning.

Three rows of bottles set up, each higher than the other on whatever he could find outside to stack them on. Booker sat himself on a fallen log and tried firing off a couple of practice shots with Devil's Kiss to see if he was at a good range. The sound of his hand igniting and the heat the flames gave off were by now familiar. The imagined pain of it the first time he had watched the flesh drip off his fingers was a distant, unpleasant memory now - one he didn't even entertain as he formed a molten ball of fire in his hand before launching it at one of the bottles.

Or at least, what he thought was one of the bottles. The Devil's Kiss Vigor had an explosive property however, and Booker heard the satisfying crack of glass that allowed him to think his aim was as good as it usually was.

For a little variety, he next brought up Shock's Jockey^*. The rocks - he assumed they were rocks - jutting out of his hands snapped electricity between their points like a whip being lashed and buzzed as if an angry hornet's nest were inside. Booker's veins glowed with the unnatural pale light before he sent the Shock Jockey towards the row - it hit, thank God. But poorly.

He was an outright mess and libel to either hurt himself or someone else if he kept this up.]

^*(ooc [spoilers?] : For my version of Booker, he did not let Cornelius Slate live. That was just the only video I could find for the Shock Jockey. >>)

Comments

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth's Booker-Sense was tingling.]

[Under normal circumstances, Elizabeth never saw much positivity from Booker, but she could tell when his levels of despondent dipped low. He hadn't come back from the bar in a timely fashion, and then when she'd gone to inquire she was told that Booker had already come and gone.]

[She follows the familiar sound of Devil's Kiss exploding, and glass breaking, and finds Booker looking the worst he had ever looked to her (in recent memory, at least).]

Booker! [Elizabeth hurried over to him.] Stop, you're going to set the whole village on fire!

[amonglions]

What? Elizabeth it's fine!

[From what he could see, he wasn't doing anything that would be threatening the tress behind the improvised range. He wasn't so careless as to do this near people, so what was she going on about?]

Nothing's on fire! [He felt the need to clarify as he looked back on the broken bottles, hot cinders collected around the remains of one - but true to his word, nothing was on fire.]

[tearmeanewone]

Yet! [Elizabeth moves into the improvised firing range to go stamp out the cinders. She's disgruntled, yes, but when she gets over there she pauses and turns her head.]

Wow... [She kneels down, ignoring the embers for a moment, and uses the hem of her skirt to pick up one of Booker's victims. Only because it's something interesting and beautiful.]

Wow... Booker, look! I didn't know it could do this. [She moves back over to him, awkwardly, with the melted bottle so she can show him.]

[amonglions]

[Booker grumbled nonsense under his breath as she scolded him, reaching to the still half-full bottle to drink from it. When she walks back towards him with the melted glass, he pauses - sort of amazed at it. He didn't know that could happen.]

Huh - well..I guess these Vigors weren't just made to be useful for folks like me.

[He imagined artisans and people like the Luteces' - scientists - would have a real use for some of these things.

Most of them, he thought too dangerous to have every day applications.]

[tearmeanewone]

But somehow I doubt they were made for things like this. [Elizabeth arches an eyebrow at Booker, waves the bottle a little to indicate, then sets it down next to the one Booker's been drinking out of. They look... eerily similar.]

...Booker you haven't drank all of these, have you?

[Dumb question. Elizabeth gets a sad look in her eyes as she looks over at the broken glass. And maybe it's because she's just the slightest bit self-centered still, but...]

This isn't because of me, is it? [She's terrified of asking, so the words are barely audible.]

[shenevermisses]

[She's seen him around. It's not a big place. She's seen almost everyone around. This, though... this is new. It's not filial magic. It's definitely something he can do. Like Zuko with fire or Ikki with air. But it's not like that at all.

Still, Clove can't resist a challenge, so...

She walks up beside him during an interim and takes out one of the knives from her vest, letting his fly. A few seconds later, one of the bottles shatters, the knife burying into the ground some distance behind it.

Only then, figuring that's a good enough way to get his attention, does she ask:]

How do you do that? With the fire and all?

[amonglions]

[Booker started from where he was seated, shooting his gaze around whiplash quick trying to spot just who had thrown that damn knife. He wasn't in a bad enough way to start seeing the battlefield every way he turned yet. So when he saw a young girl as the one responsible, he's slightly intrigued.]

They're called Vigors, girl. It's kinda like, uh...medicine.

[He doesn't know how the hell else to describe it.]

I don't really know that much about it myself, to tell you the truth.

[shenevermisses]

Is it like the filial magic here? I've... been getting curious about trying that lately.

[It always seems so useful, another example of everything that she could use to protect herself, Cato, and make a good impression on the Malnosso.]

[amonglions]

Filial magic?

[He's heard of it, but it's not like he's actively pursued anything on it.]

I don't know about that but it's...I guess you could call it magic. I don't know the science behind it.

[Because really how could you scientifically will crows into existence?]

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

[When Ginia hears the sharp crack of glass and a deep explosion, she immediately dives for cover against a tree, making herself as small as possible. Her hand grips her knife as she wishes for a handgun. There's another low boom, then another.

When the sound turns to more of a low hum and crackling explosion, Ginia slowly rises. Someone testing out something in the village? Huh. Knife still out, she carefully makes her way closer to the sound, careful to judge what direction she approaches from.

She finally spots Booker and his impromptu shooting range, coming in from the side. Broken glass litters the ground as do a few scorched chunks of wood and at least one smoldering bush. Ginia sheathes her knife and takes out her notepad and pen. Giving a few good sharp whistles to make sure she has Booker's attention, she marches over to him, writing as she goes.

When she's close enough, she holds up her notepad to show him her message.]

There's the Battle Dome for this sort of thing.

[amonglions]

--the hell? [The electricity arcing on his fingers dies down at the unmistakable pitch of a whistle and Booker twists around to see a lady walking towards him as she scribbles something down.]

Look lady, I'm tryin' to get some practice in so if you don't mi --

[And then the notepad drops forward in front of him and he actually squints to read it without any mistakes - he's on that side of drunk - afterwards, Booker sneers up at the woman mean as you please.]

I know all about that Battle Dome and I ain't interested.

Thanks.

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

[Ginia looks at the targets set up. Underneath lay cracked and melted glass, patches where snow has melted away, and the one slightly smoldering shrub caught in the crossfire. She looks back at Booker and sizes him up.

Surly. Harsh. Nothing she hasn't dealt with before.

...Eh, it's not her problem ultimately and there's enough snow dampening everything to prevent a major forest fire.

She smiles and writes down another message.]

As you say. Mind if I watch you practice? I won't say anything.

[amonglions]

[Booker pulls a drink from one of the last few bottles still holding liquor by his feet as she writes, patient as you please. He's not exactly cognizant of much at the moment. Certainly not how drunk he really is. Sitting down prevents the world from shifting under his feet and allow him a false reading of things. It's better and he doesn't take as long reading her next message as she shows him.]

You must be pretty damn bored.

[He grunted, that being all he had to say on the matter before he looked back at the bottles still remaining. It was as good as a "Yeah, sure" for him.]

[notyourutopian]

[It was the rush of fire followed by the explosion that drew Eleanor's attention, partly because of it was a danger, and partly because it was familiar. She knew that sound, even if it wasn't...exactly...right.]

[Which was why she went looking for it, moving quietly towards the light and stepping into view just as Booker was sending arcs of electricity through the air.]

[Eleanor froze, not moving, not breathing, as she took the scene in. Electricity arcing over...were those crystals?...in his hands, electricity leaping from his fingers. And fire earlier, she was sure. Plasmids. Different, a little bit different, but still...]

You're a splicer.

[It wasn't a question, and it wasn't malicious, it was just...shocked. Staring at him.]

[amonglions]

[His hand returns to normal as he hears Eleanor speak and he drops it, as if he was guilty of stealing from a cookie jar. She sounded pretty sure about what she called him. What was it again? Splicer?

He'd never heard of the term but it didn't sound pleasant. Booker's glassy gaze flitted over the bottles that remained before looking back to Eleanor with a question.]

A what?

[notyourutopian]

A splicer. [She repeated, but her expression shifted into confusion. How could he be a splicer and not know what the term meant? Maybe he wasn't, maybe she was wrong, maybe it was...something else.]

[But she didn't think so.] You received your abilities, they were injected into you...at least, that's how it worked in Rapture. They changed you. Genetically.

[As if to further her explanation, she holds out her hand and her fingers and palm burst into flame. But unlike his, it's not pain-free, and after a few moments she shakes the effects away, tucking her hand behind her back as it heals over.]

[amonglions]

[Rapture, right. He knew a little of it from the doctor and Elanor separately, but his short visit there hadn't exactly given him a wide berth of knowledge of the place.

He raises his brow with Elanor's display, though he can see that hers is different in the effect.]

...What else can you do?

[He's wondering if all his Vigors existed in Rapture, because if his memory serves him right...he remembers Fink talking about finding designs through tears that appeared in Columbia.

Was this one of them? Or was he just reaching?]

[iwannabethegai]

[Once Shu sees Booker, he decides to observe the other man first. This scene is entirely shocking to him and he doesn't understand what would cause Booker to do this. There's so many things he doesn't understand.

Despite that, he knows exactly what he has to do.

He narrows his eyes slightly and steps forward.]

What are you doing?

[amonglions]

[Shu, at least, doesn't startle him. The only mark that he acknowledged Shu stepping forward and speaking being a slight hesitation before he lobbed another fireball towards the bottles and was rewarded with a satisfying smash.]

What does it look like?

[He bites back quickly enough, already defensive as if he can tell what direction this little conversation will head.]

[iwannabethegai]

[He knows exactly what he's looking at. Though, he's not sure if Booker knows what he's doing.]

You shouldn't do this outside. Please stop and reconsider. If you want to fight then I'll take you on at the Battle Dome.

[Shu walked into this expecting some sort of fight either way. ]

[amonglions]

[Booker scoffs as if Shu had said something particularly funny and just pulls another drink deep from a bottle he was already at.]

Kid, what makes you think I want to fight you or anybody else right now?

[Especially in that Godforsaken Battle Dome. It goes unsaid, he thinks, and maybe just to spite him - or definitely to spite him - Booker turns his hand towards the empty bottles again and presses a thin but bright pulse of electricity from his fingertips, the crystals growing on the back of his hand once more to conduct it before shattering when he finished.]

Just mind your own business, alright?

[voidseeing]

[Gai is still uneasy with the concept of magic - or anything resembling it - in general. The Void Genome is his limit for strange powers, and even then it's a power he hates having ("Guilty Crown," indeed) and doesn't want to use unless needed. Filial magic is a definite no for him. That doesn't mean he isn't intrigued when he sees others demonstrating such powers, however, particularly when said other happens to be his own future father-in-law.

The familiar sounds of explosions are what lured Gai out into the forest; when he spots who is responsible and just what it is that's going on, he pauses some distance away and just watches, steely grey eyes studying Booker's every action and analyzing those strange bottles he's drinking from.

The source of the explosions may be foreign to him, but the explosions themselves are familiar, and he finds himself almost relaxing as he watches Booker destroy the bottles. As a fellow soldier, he won't interrupt Booker, choosing instead to just wait until the other man is finished.]

[amonglions]

[He cycles through the two Vigors. Both useful for long-ranged lobbing attacks, a good offence but there were more in the roster he wanted to try out again. Booker had gotten used to the Vigors in Columbia and took to them like a fish to water. This improved shooting range was nice and all, but it only allowed him to use projectiles instead of bullets.

Things like the Murder of Crows or Possession were going sadly unused. But the drink he still had was plenty useful to combat that. It wasn't until he burst every bottle that he stopped and slouched backwards with his eyes closed - as if he'd fallen asleep. The twisted expression on his face was telling otherwise though. He hadn't even realized he was being watched.]

[voidseeing]

[Fascinating. Gai isn't sure just how to class those powers, as they don't seem to match up to anything he's heard or read about before. Some kind of potion, perhaps? That would be the most likely answer. Whatever they are, he wants to learn more.

And Gai being Gai, he'll start things out by poking at Booker, because that's the method of communication he's most familiar with.]

Should I be worried about accidentally ordering one of those at the bar?

[amonglions]

[Hearing Gai speak should alert him more, Booker thinks as he peels his eyes open to glare at the kid. He's too warm and pleasantly tired now to react much though and he only tilts his head upright as he speaks.]

Never met one I didn't like. [He sort of sneers without any heat or heart behind it, watching Gai as carefully as he could manage in this state.]

The hell do you want?

[Manners are sort of lost on him now.]