17325/All a matter of mind

All a matter of mind
Date of Scene:	02 March 2024
Location:	The Danger Room - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	Jinx encourages Kían to practice mental protection from Psimon's new psychic prowess.  Garfield eats a burrito.
Cast of Characters:	Jinx, Kian, Gar Logan

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Jinx has posed:
    Jinx has set up the room with a giant pentagram in the middle made of chalk.  Mystical symbols drawn in to it.  Candles at each point burning gently.  The Danger Room wasn't meant to be used like this.  The very expensive Danger Room, that is.  But it's a good open space and Jinx needed some of that.  At the very center of the pentagram is a plinth and on it… a plate with a delicious looking burrito.
    "Roight," Jinx opens, "Now that Psimon has got some fancy mental enhancement stone and can seemingly blank us and a whole street plus for hours we gotta do some training.  I asked Troia if it was okay and she said yes so don't give me any of them oi what's she doin' looks."
    Fingers waggle.  "The exercise is simple.  Kian bein' our team psychic is gunna try and protect his own mind and Gar's mind from my mind control magic.  Now, I'm not a telepath or a psychic so I have to do magic to make this work.  Psimon is, so he can just think it.  So," she gets out the chalk again and approaches, "I gotta do a little spell work first."
    She plants a chalky thumb on Kian's forehead, then on Gar's forehead.  "The goal is for Gar to take the burrito.  Nomming is optional.  We all good for some mind fuckery?"

Kian has posed:
    "You know I can't reach his mind unless we're in physical contact?" Kían asks.  "Not that I have any problem holding on to him, but if he breaks away from me, any ability to reach his mind stops.  I'm only fully telepathic with other telepaths.  I'll do what I can, but…."  He shrugs.
    "We never really learn how to shield ourselves from each other anyway.  You'll understand why when you visit my world.  We're used to living inside each others' minds, at least sometimes."
    He shrugs again, and half-smiles.  "I just don't want you to be surprised or disappointed if I make a mess of this."

Gar Logan has posed:
    Garfield Logan got all dressed up for this, namely in costume.  While there were some general frowns and iffy expressions related to the pentagram—those are generally bad news from what he knows—the need to protect against someone who can utilize a psychic attack is, at least, valuable.
    Which is why he's staring at the burrito, that tasty-looking thing in the middle of it all, doing a pitch-perfect Homer Simpson.  "Mmmmm… burrito…."
    Which is then interrupted by Jinx's thumb against his forehead.  "Eh?  Hey… I'm paying attention.  Get the burrito, yeah."
    He's totally not paying attention, distracted by the food.

Jinx has posed:
    Jinx shrugs her shoulders.  "If that means we can only get one person up to Psimon to punch his stupid face then so be it.  Troia has already called dibs on that but training is training and this is more about you Kian than Gar."  She looks at the burrito.
    "Gar is motivated for burrito.  The time is now."  She waggles her hands.  "While I have to concentrate on the magic Psimon does not.  It's all natural for him.  And if being in his mind lets you see through his illusions then that's fine by me, Kian.  So long as your charge can see too."
    Like a mirage in a desert the proverbial pool of water, aka the burrito, disappears.  Plinth, pentagram, Jinx, and all.  "Begin," comes a voice from nowhere.  Kian and Gar are now on their own.  Easy mode yes, but still it has begun.

Kian has posed:
    "Gar is always motivated by burritos.  A real test would be to mind control him into giving it to me."  Kían blinks once.  "Assuming it's not a chicken burrito.  It's not, is it?"
    In any case, he reaches over and puts his hand on Gar's shoulder.  He's not hungry, so it's easy to radiate a sense of not being hungry.  {You just ate anyway.  You can't possibly be interested in a burrito right now.}
    Well, yeah, he can, he's Gar, but thinking about that would be counterproductive.

Gar Logan has posed:
    {I thought you knew me better than that.} Gar answers mentally, though there comes a frown as the burrito seems to no longer be there, along with much of anything else except for Kian himself.
    He rubs the back of his head, the mental illusion seemingly working on him at first?  Or can he see it again depending on how successful Kian is at protecting him from the simulated effects?
    The greenest of the Titans, if only in color, sniffs a few times, knowing he ought to be able to smell it.  This sort of thing is not an exact science.

Jinx has posed:
    Jinx wasn't going to show off just how good her mind control can be right off the bat.  She hates this and is somewhat relieved when Kian seems to cut through the magic with ease.  "You are a natural," she says.  She's clearly standing there again and so is the burrito.
    She steps in front of it and smiles.  "Not yet.  We're only just warming up.  But that's a really strong start."  She twists her mouth a little in distaste.  "I'm trying to get better at sharing so I guess I should explain.  I was taught how to mind control people for H.I.V.E.  They wanted me to be able to turn someone in to one of us… them.  My teacher did it to me over and over again until I learnt how to do it back."
    "I was so angry I…."  She shudders.  "Anyway.  Once I knew how to do it they made me use it.  And this one time this guy was just looking at me with such soul shattering sadness.  That's the day I knew I needed to get out of there."
    She shudders and shakes it off.  "This is hard for me.  Doing this kind of magic.  But if it makes us able to beat Psimon then it's worth it."  A deep breath and she begins to center her mind and and spirit once more.  It only takes a moment and everything disappears again.

Kian has posed:
    The scent of chilis hits Kían's nose, and he loses concentration.  All of a sudden he himself is hungry, and turns to glance towards The Burrito.  He removes his hand from Gar's shoulder, and says, "Would you get that for me, tenár'h?"

Gar Logan has posed:
    "Oh, there you are.  And… that sucks.  Like, a lot," Gar says after Jinx gives a little more insight to the whole mind control thing.  "I knew there was a reason I didn't like anyone there."  Which included Jinx for a good while.  "At least you broke free, right?"
    With the burrito back, he puts his focus on it.  Its shape.  Its smell.  The probable contents and how it'll taste when he's devouring it.
    Away it all goes again, and this time his desire for it is what causes him to be able to see it again.  Cravings can be powerful things.
    "I got this.  Come to papa…" he says, approaching the pentagram and the burrito set in the middle of it.  Oh, the things he's imagining doing to it right now.

Jinx has posed:
    Jinx is impressed with Gar and Kian's ability to break through it yet at the same time something about Kian's desire for Gar to give him the burrito rubs her the wrong way.  Her magic flares up, pink energy whips around the room and the candles burning burn pink too as she says:
    ~~+++ STOP +++~~
    Her lips move before the words but they are silent.  The command echos in Gar's head like an anvil crushing other thoughts.  Even all those intense thoughts of eating a delicious burrito.
    Her hand out stretched as she holds on to Gar's mind like a puppet.  She glances side long at Kian and says, "This is what you're up against.  Except he'll do this to the whole team.  How are you going to stop him?  He will destroy us and help his idiot boss conquer the world."

Kian has posed:
    "I did say to not be disappointed," Kían says with a bit of a smirk.  "But I did say that we have no experience with mental shields.  Kyshán is not Earth.  We don't have experience with people who use their ki'thar… sorry, their mental gift for bad purposes.  It just doesn't happen."
    And then he reaches over and clamps his hand on Gar's shoulder again.  {/Remember who you are, Gar s'Márek'Mári t'Káeh./}

Gar Logan has posed:
    Garfield Logan's fingers come to within teasing, tantalizing inches of the burrito before something overwhelming cuts off his ability to get the rest of the way there.  A little squeak sneaks out of the corner of his mouth, his snaggletooth underbite visible.  There's a briefly distraught look on his face.
    "It… but… my… my precioussss…" he whines, impervious to anything else at the moment: Jinx's own extended arm and hand, her dire warning about what Those Other Guys would do, even whatever's going on with Kian trying to help.
    There's contact made again, Kian's voice in his head.  Or is it? {Mufasa…?} he asks.  Remember who you are?
    He's able to move again, and in doing so, Simba pounces on the tasty treat, nomming like no burrito has ever been nommed before!
    Yes, as a green lion.

Jinx has posed:
    Jinx engages in a tangled mental battle with Kian briefly.  His natural talents eventually win out over the magic.  The more time she'd have to prepare the stronger she could make the mental compulsions.  This is training though.  It's meant to be a reminder of how rough things will be in the field.
    The mental grip on Gar is released like a muscle relaxing.  Jinx wipes a tear from the corner of her left eye and exhales slowly.  "Psimon will be much worse.  But this is more of a chance than we had before.  You should practice that more Kian.  A lot more.  I know it's weird and alien and new but we're going to need it."
    Damn that burrito smells good.  She awkwardly looks at the green lion and then back to Kian.  "We should get more burritos."

Kian has posed:
    Kían snickers.  "More beef and more bean burritos are always a good idea, whether or not we're training.  With cheese.  And chilis."
    He regards Jinx a little resignedly.  "I did say conflict is unknown to my people.  I've learned it a little, but not very well.  It's going to take time.  I don't know if we have time, but it will take time anyway."
    He watches the green lion pounce.  "Specifically, we need more hot pepper and cheese burritos.  Or at least I do."

Gar Logan has posed:
    The lion's tail lashes a few times as he shakes his head a few times, sending the darker green mane in motion before he licks his chops.  "Yes.  More burritos.  That was just the appetizer.  Steak, barbacoa, carnitas, chicken…."  A very feline grin surfaces as Gar rises to pass Kian and rub against him in the process.  "…which you don't have to have, of course."
    He's rather big, even for a lion, and he watches Jinx closely.  "I have my own ways of dealing with stuff like this.  Do you know if he can only control a person's mind, or animals too?  When I'm like this, it's not just my own mind.  Not completely."

Jinx has posed:
    Jinx ponders the question and shrugs her shoulders with a look of the unknown.  "I dunno.  It's not like I got to know the guy.  He was an asshole before he got super mental powers last week.  Now he's going to be a huge megalomaniac."  She smiles.  "Right.  I think we're done here.  Kian, do practice.  I'll go get more burritos."
    With a snap of her fingers the entire room resets.  Even the pentagram disappears.  It too was an illusion.  The only real thing was the burrito.  "A lot more practice."  She really was holding back a lot.