trans_9 | Peace of Mind [Open]

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Peace of Mind [Open]

One of the few downsides of having brain powers was that you really couldn't let your mind wander. This held true, even for Julian. Despite his normally flippant and flirty attitude, he always kept his powers on a very tight leash.

Perhaps that was part of the reason for the attitude to begin with. He had to restrain his powers, so maybe he let personality run wild to compensate.

It's possible, but that was neither here nor there.

Still, even he needed to relax that part of his mind every now and again. He had a lot on his mind anyway, some decompressing would do him some good.

He could have chosen a sensorium, but elected for a rather quiet spot in the city instead and let his powers uncork. There was no explosion, no sudden lifting of buildings, or anything nearly as destructive as that. Just a strange green glow as energy started to pour out of him, slowly swirling around him in a free flowing current. He allowed himself to be enveloped by it, to float in it, and to relax that way for just a little while.

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"Oh..." He didn't know what to expect as an answer, but that still caught him a little off guard.

"I was just..." he looked back at the spot where he had been floating back, not entirely sure how to explain what he was doing. "..clearing my head a bit, I guess. A lot has happened," he agreed.

Looking back down at her, he used his powers to raise the ground she was sitting on, so that she was closer to eye level with him.

"How've you been?"

"I figured," Katara said, smiling a little at Julian being less than his usual buoyant self. "You wouldn't be floating in mid air giving off light unless there was a reason, right? Normally, I try meditating, but even that hasn't been as easy as it used to."

Not when there were so many thoughts shooting through her head, that was for sure. Too many.

Being brought of the ground was a little startling, but that was because she hadn't expected it, and instead concentrated on the question.

"Better. I just saw an alien burst out of a person on the ship, which is bad enough, but I'd been treating his father earlier so it was definitely a pretty intense situation. That and...well, I lost a teacher of mine. She's just gone from my memory. I don't even remember her name. The worst of it is, what she taught me no one else on the ship can."

Being a jackass took effort, which was more work than what he was willing to put in right now.

"I heard about the whole exploding chest alien things..." Though that news nearly go lost in the shuffle thanks to Shiva's mutiny. "At least the people made it.

"It seems like everyone has lost someone by now, though." For him, it just seemed like the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. "What was it that she was teaching you?"

And Katara was grateful: normally, she could keep up a rapport when Julian was this way, but this was not one of those times. She was lad they were both subdued at the samer time.

Then again, who wouldn't be?

"Yeah," Katara said, sighing. "I patched him up as best as I could, using magic I'm not really familiar with yet. My regular healing abilities just weren't going to cut it. Now its all about waiting and seeing what happens next."

"This is definitely not my first time," Katara said, "and I figure it won't be my last. Thing is, if someone dies, at least you get to remember them right? I can't do that when someone leaves my memory. She was teaching me a specific martial art though: Prana Bindu. I was actually getting fairly good, but then she vanished. You ever get the feeling that when bad things happen, it happens all in a row?"

That last part was said with an air of humor, although Katara could hardly says he felt like laughing.

There was a laugh from Julian. It was short, bitter, and devoid of humor.

"Yeah, I've had that feeling." Story of his life, really. "It's all just one thing after another... then one day you look around, and everything you thought you had was gone."

"I had hoped it would have lasted longer. The last time we spoke, she was upset with me because I went after one of the Ohm instead of helping toput out a fire with some of the ship members. I still think I was right, but at the time, I didn't want her to be angry with me, I respected her a lot. It sounds stupid now, but I really was hoping I had a chance to explain why I did what I did back then."

She sighed. "At least I got to learn though. But you...what's going on with you lately Julian?"

"Well, that's Ensign Julian, for starters," and just a hint of his usual smugness returned for a moment. Truthfully, he'd rather be Lieutenant Keller, but this was a start.

"Been trying to embrace the new stuff," he elaborated, vaguely, "and let go of some of the old stuff. Which isn't nearly as easy as I thought it would be."

"You're an Ensign?!" Katara exclaimed. "But that's wonderful news! I never thought you'd have a position on the ship. Good for you! What did you have to do to get it?"

Hopefully he understood that this wasn't a deragatory statement. Julian always seemed to be the type that defued authority.

She nodded here. "Yeah, I find that it helps to have a healthy balance of them both. It's what's needed to adjust to things on the ship. Like, I can't train to a Bene Gesserit anymore, but now I'm co-leader of the Outsiders without even plannimg it."

Julian was the type to buck authority when it suited him. He was also the type to force his way towards the top of a hierarchy, then abuse the hell out of it.

"I knew a guy who knew a guy who got a third guy to put in a good word for me," he joked. At least his mood seemed to be lifting some. "Nah, I threw my name in for consideration. I didn't think I was going to be picked, but, hey," here he was.

He shrugged.

"But look at you, Co-leader of the Outsiders! How are you liking it so far?"

If he had actually said that, it would have likely brightened the mood. Though Julian was typically the kind of guy that Katara tended to dislike, there was also something carefree and sweet about him. She hated to admit it, but she could see why girls got mad at him: there was something both inaccessible and wild about him.

She chuckled. "Well, at least you got voted in. I would have voted for you if I didn't already. Honestly there's so much going on in this ship that I can lose track. But I can see why you would be picked. Remember, I was on your team once. It's just too bad we never really got to do any team activities together."

And here was something she didn't mind talking about.

"We're actually getting along pretty well! Beastboy is the co-leader, and so far he's been showing them fun things, getting them to bond. I figure that he'll be a good foil that way: Beastboy's really good at making people feel invited, and has experience on a superhero team. In a few days, I'm going to be arranging training sessions for the members that want or need it. With all I've learned, it;d be a shame to let all that go away."

"Yeah," he mused about her training sessions. "Of course, now that I'm an Ensign, and you're co-leader of the Outsiders, I'm contractually obligated to come around and give you guys shit every now and again."

Julian was not Julian unless he had someone to make fun of, even in a friendly way.

Katara stuck out her tongue. "Hey, I'm trying to train them so if they get grouped by you guys, they'll have an idea of what to do. That's the reason we're together anyway: you need a team of kids on the ship helping each other out."

Not that she would mind much if it was Julian. She knew he'd been on a team before: managing things were never easy.

"Oh really?" he asked, in a mock haughty tone. "Well I," he started, then paused, then broke into a wide grin. "Okay, I just enjoy giving people shit," he admitted. He honestly had no good reason to most of the time, but it was fun.

"Someone has to make sure you guys stay on your toes."

"I noticed," Katara dryly. "Not that I don't need it every once and awhile. In the past, I sometimes got too concerned with people liking me that I let them walk all over me. The only reason I felt that way was because I felt overwhelmed about being on the ship and how much more wordly other people were. But that's over now. From here on in, I work for the things I've made for myself."

She nodded. "Hey, I respect the opinion of someone who's actually been on a team. I was too, but the way you guys go at it is a little different."

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Peace of Mind [Open]

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