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The beer tree. No matter how much she thinks on it, Mei-Xing just can't make that work in her head.

But there it was. Mocking the laws of nature.

With a shrug, she tugs off a brew and pops it open, taking a sit. At least it's not bad beer. She settles down under the tree, leaning against the trunk, and sips again.

It's not where she usually hangs out, or where she'd even prefer to do her business, but there was a powerful, stable gaiasphere here, and if she was going to be putting her magic on things, she'd rather have a stable environment. Until the guy with the monster problem arrived, she'd just be sitting here. Drinking. And using magic to flick pebbles at any animals that got too close for comfort.

Flick. Flick.

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"Not that I noticed." She looks at Kang quizzically. "Why do you ask? You spot some hoodoo going down that people shouldn't have been able to do? Some of us do keep secrets, Kang."

"I don't know how I did it, but before Nehaalista shot me with the cure, I... spit lightning at her. At first, I thought I was hallucinating, but no one else reported hallucinations, and after checking with her, I really did do it," Kang stared down at his bottle. "That's something only dragons are supposed to be able to do."

"Drakes... Well, the guys that sorta look like you in my world have been known to do that, but they can usually do it from the start." She looks over at him, eyes glazing for a moment.

"...That's odd." She sets her beer down and crawls closer. "When I first saw you, you had a glow of magic right around... Here." She places a hand on his chest, splaying her fingers. "And it spread throughout your body. Wasn't really that defined, though. Now, it's a little sharper and the... glow is a tad brighter." She looks up at him with a raised eyebrow. "You been practicing magic or something, Kang?"

Kang blinked, staring down at the hand on his chest. He hadn't expected Mei-Xing to do anything like that. He also had never had any idea about his magic being concentrated in one spot in his body; all draconians were magical creatures warped by magic, but only two types could actually cast spells.

"I... used to practice magic, but I haven't cast anything in years. Are you sure?"

She gives him an irritated look. "Just because you used to cast magic and stopped, it doesn't make you any less Awakened." Though she doesn't know why you'd stop.

She taps his chest again. "It's all centered right here. I've never really seen anything like it in anything living. If you were a drone or something, I'd say that somebody tucked a magical focus in you, or an enchanted part. But it goes from here throughout the rest of your body." She slides both hands across his chest to illustrate. "Like an organ or something."

"It's really odd. But, it's just like I said. Whenever I saw you before, it was less distinct and focused. Now..." She chews her lip, trying to figure out what could have triggered the change.

"We're created from dragons. Only two types of us, bozaks like me, and auraks, can cast spells; I don't know if this one spot is something that all draconians have or just... us," Kang's wings rustled. He was feeling a little uncomfortable with how close Mei-Xing was to him, and the way she was touching him.

"I haven't done anything different the past few days. Do you think maybe the virus could have triggered it?"

Would he be able to do it again if he wanted?

"Hm." Well, just looking at it won't do anything. She raps his chest with her knuckles then stands, crossing her arms. "I can't tell you anything without looking at another one of you bozaks. But what I can tell you is that it wasn't the work of any kind of sickness, unless your body adapted very quickly. Your aura contains no sign of any virus."

She taps her chin, frowning. "The most I can tell you is that if you want to know anything, try it again. I don't know how it works with you dragons, but maybe since you quit casting magic..." She shakes her head. "No, that's retarded. Disregard what I just said."

"That's probably not likely to happen anytime soon," Kang said dryly, relaxing somewhat now that Mei-Xing wasn't invading his personal space. Hopefully no one else had seen that; he didn't want anyone to get the wrong impression and spread rumors.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt. I'm not sure how I did it in the first place, though. I just remember seeing that tranquilizer gun in her hands, and wanting to kill her before she could shoot me with it." He frowned at the memory.

"Don't I know it. Only elf I've seen here comes from some backwater medieval land." She sighs. Nothing to do about it now.

"Well, I could always lob a manabolt at you, see if that swings anything up." She glances at the ceiling. "Though I think Stacy has eyes here. That might not end pretty for either of us."

Eh, what the hell. "You got any violations?"

Kang smiled wryly, "I came from 'some backwater medieval land.' Was his name Aibgha-something or Dalamar?" He knew he'd butchered the one elf's name, but he didn't much care. He never had been very fond of elves.

"...I've gotten two violations, for idiotic reasons. I'd rather not resort to that method unless I can't think of anything else."

"The first. Sounded like someone speaking Sperethiel with a mouth full of food." She can pronounce it, but there's no point in correcting.

She nods. She'd rather not get hit by lightning, either. "Well, can you recall the feelings? How your body felt?" She shrugs. "I don't know, usually things like that are pure instinct."

"I've never been good with elf names," Kang shrugged. "Yours is easier to pronounce than most elves from my world."

He downed the rest of his beer and stood up, the tip of his tail moving slightly as he focused, and after a few seconds, he began to feel that strange sensation in his stomach again. "...that's interesting. I'd suggest you stand back, just in case."

"I'm Chinese, I'm not from Tir Tairngire." She shrugs. "Took me forever to learn to say some English names properly. Yours is pretty simple."

She raises her hands up in a 'I surrender' gesture and steps out of his way, switching back to perceiving the astral plane. This could be an interesting thing to see.

The air filled with the scent of ozone as Kang concentrated on the building pressure. Static electricity sparked around his mouth, and when he felt as if he couldn't hold it in anymore, he opened his mouth to let loose a bolt of lightning.

"Lady of the Abyss," he said to himself, staring at the tree he'd just zapped.

Well. That had been quite some show. She couldn't even begin to guess at the biological implications of it, so she simply latched on to the most reasonable explanation.

She reaches out and pats him on the shoulder. "Congratulations. You're a freak."

It's magic, obviously. Apparently draconians weren't as removed from dragons and drakes as Kang would have the crew believe. "How do you feel? Tingly? Buzzy?"

Kang snorted, "Maybe it's just something that comes with age. Hell if I know."

He'd never denied kinship with dragons, or the fact that he would have been a dragon if it weren't for the corruption ritual. "...I don't feel any different. I get the feeling I won't be able to do that again for a while, though."

"It's possible. Dragons don't tend to give us lowly metahuman races the details on their biology and magic, so..." She shrugs. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Huh. Your aura's a little fuzzy, but it's still showing through pretty strong. I'd guess that you're just not used to doing it." She mimes doing some curls. "You've gotta work that magic muscle, Kang."

"There were some metallic dragons that were sharing information with scholars, but the problem with draconians is how new we as a race are. Forty-five, maybe forty-six years old, and we've only had females for five or six years," Kang shook his head, grabbing another beer and sitting back down.

"I stopped using magic for personal reasons."

"Hey, you're only a few years younger than anything not-human in our world." She crosses her arms, scowling for a moment. "...Hm. Maybe that's... Naah." There'd be no real relation. Their worlds were too far apart.

"But... why?" She stares at Kang, as if he'd suddenly announced that he ate babies with a hint of sugaar. Willingly giving up magic? What madness was this?

Kang hesitated, glancing up at the branches of the tree. It wouldn't hurt to tell Mei-Xing, would it?

"Are gods real on your world?"

She pauses. "That's... Complicated. There are the Great Dragons. And some spirits may as well be gods. And then there's the Yama Kings..." Here, she actually checks over her shoulder, licking her lips.

She looks back to Kang. "But there's arguments over whether the old gods were actually gods, whether mages use divine or demonic magic granted by God or the demons, or whether everything was just spirits."

"Mine has real ones. I used to follow one, named Takhisis; she assisted in the creation of my race, and for a time, I, as well as several others, thought that she was the one that gave us our magic. I'd pray to her every night for my spells, and she would grant them," Kang began. "About five years ago, she left, along with the other gods. Good riddance to her. She'd given us hope, telling us where to find the females, but she'd intended for us to die trying to get there."

He snorted. "After the gods left, the magic didn't work for anybody for several months. It did come back for those that's magic was inherent, like my kind; my regiment kept it from me, though, because they knew how hard I'd taken it. Certain circumstances made it necessary for me to find out, though, and I vowed to never again use it myself, because of my broken faith."

"Kang." She gives him a long look. "That is retarded." She nudges him with her bottle. "Magic doesn't come from faith in the gods. Some traditions may be built on that, sure, but there's some freaks out there who built their magic tradition on old Disney cartoons. Magic comes from the world around you, and from within yourself."

She stands up and spreads her arms. "So your god was some chòubī who tried to kill you off. Your need to follow her ended when she left. It's time for you to sit up and make your own damned tradition. Maybe you'll have to sing drinking songs while readying a fireball, but who'll give a fuck when the other cock's been geeked?" She crosses her arms. "Because, really, denying yourself a weapon in this war is going to get some of us killed."

Mei-Xing almost reminded Kang of Huzzad, with her little speech. He was silent for several moments, thinking them over, and then he shook his head, "You do have a point. It'd be immensely stupid of me to not use a weapon in my arsenal in the situation we're all in."

He smiled wryly. "Lucky for me, the words will still work, and I won't have to sing drinking songs."

"I've got two of'em, actually, but we're not here to talk about my ears." She grins smugly. "Just be happy we're on the same side. I'd hate to have to use my amazing debating skills for the power of evil, after all."

...Was this even a debate?