[wam] 034 - last to know
Sep. 14th, 2008 10:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
There were no words, nothing to describe what he was feeling or seeing…not really. Poetry, maybe…but the only other word for it was terrifying.
“Call it over…go ahead, Tom Tom.”
Gaping at the tiny flame dancing in midair just on the other side of his father, Tommy swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah…uh…c’mere. Come over here! C’mon!” he crooned, watching in fascination as the tongue of flame obeyed, moving through the circle of Gregory Karras’s arms and over to Tommy as he extended his hand.
“It’s a very basic form of elemental. It will obey any basic command. I can show you how to conjure one.”
“Dad…I still don’t know how this is even possible.” Tommy breathed, rubbing his eyes after the little flame doused itself in his palm. “The guys in the Fraternity told me the power was inherited, but you never…”
Gregory sighed, reaching up to rub his own eyes in the same fashion as Tommy, pinching the bridge of his nose and letting his fingers on either side dig in. “That’s because I didn’t. I haven’t had the power to call since before you were born. I gave it up.”
“You can actually do that?”
“Hope has a human face, it’s a human virtue. If you embrace it completely…give up all right to use the power, to serve the masses and simply join them? Yes, it’s possible. And that’s what I did for almost forty years.”
Leaning back in his seat on the other side of his father’s desk, Tommy ran his hands back through his hair and tried to get his head around the whole thing. “So you knew…all this time, you fucking knew.”
“I did not.” Gregory insisted, narrowing his eyes a little. “Tom Tom, I didn’t know for sure. I’d given up the power, and your mother’s human-”
“But there was a chance.” He protested, still gaping at his father. All these years, all the trust…and he’d been one of them. He’d had real magic at his fingertips, and he’d given it up.
Most importantly, though, he hadn’t told Tommy. And they told each other everything.
“Tommy, it’s a very long story, and it’s very complicated. The bottom line is that I gave up magic for love…I traded one form of hope for another. And I’ve never looked back…I had you and I had your mother, that’s all I needed. And if I had know, Tom Tom…if I had even been remotely sure that you would be gifted, you know that I would have told you.
That was the hell of it…Tommy did. Even now, he could sense the honestly in his father, and knew in his heart that there was no deception in the man.
“And that’s your specialty?”
Gregory nodded. “Elemental manipulation. When I was still doing some magic, the miracle tree was my specialty. Fire, cold wind on the back of the neck during a séance…”
Tommy nodded, growing quiet as he digested the facts.
“Okay.”
“You…okay? You’re not angry?”
“No, Dad, I’m plenty angry…but I know I’ll get over it.” Tommy admitted honestly as he leaned forward, folding his arms along the edge of the desk between them. “And I can’t really afford to be angry right now, because there’s something I gotta tell you…and I think it’s gonna be more than a little shocking.”
Gregory raised an eyebrow, concern etched on his weathered features. “Tom Tom, you’re scaring me here.”
“Don’t be scared, Dad. Everything’s fine…but I need to tell you a story. The real version this time. Started back in 1874 when I was born in Budapest, Hungary…”
Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 609
“Call it over…go ahead, Tom Tom.”
Gaping at the tiny flame dancing in midair just on the other side of his father, Tommy swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah…uh…c’mere. Come over here! C’mon!” he crooned, watching in fascination as the tongue of flame obeyed, moving through the circle of Gregory Karras’s arms and over to Tommy as he extended his hand.
“It’s a very basic form of elemental. It will obey any basic command. I can show you how to conjure one.”
“Dad…I still don’t know how this is even possible.” Tommy breathed, rubbing his eyes after the little flame doused itself in his palm. “The guys in the Fraternity told me the power was inherited, but you never…”
Gregory sighed, reaching up to rub his own eyes in the same fashion as Tommy, pinching the bridge of his nose and letting his fingers on either side dig in. “That’s because I didn’t. I haven’t had the power to call since before you were born. I gave it up.”
“You can actually do that?”
“Hope has a human face, it’s a human virtue. If you embrace it completely…give up all right to use the power, to serve the masses and simply join them? Yes, it’s possible. And that’s what I did for almost forty years.”
Leaning back in his seat on the other side of his father’s desk, Tommy ran his hands back through his hair and tried to get his head around the whole thing. “So you knew…all this time, you fucking knew.”
“I did not.” Gregory insisted, narrowing his eyes a little. “Tom Tom, I didn’t know for sure. I’d given up the power, and your mother’s human-”
“But there was a chance.” He protested, still gaping at his father. All these years, all the trust…and he’d been one of them. He’d had real magic at his fingertips, and he’d given it up.
Most importantly, though, he hadn’t told Tommy. And they told each other everything.
“Tommy, it’s a very long story, and it’s very complicated. The bottom line is that I gave up magic for love…I traded one form of hope for another. And I’ve never looked back…I had you and I had your mother, that’s all I needed. And if I had know, Tom Tom…if I had even been remotely sure that you would be gifted, you know that I would have told you.
That was the hell of it…Tommy did. Even now, he could sense the honestly in his father, and knew in his heart that there was no deception in the man.
“And that’s your specialty?”
Gregory nodded. “Elemental manipulation. When I was still doing some magic, the miracle tree was my specialty. Fire, cold wind on the back of the neck during a séance…”
Tommy nodded, growing quiet as he digested the facts.
“Okay.”
“You…okay? You’re not angry?”
“No, Dad, I’m plenty angry…but I know I’ll get over it.” Tommy admitted honestly as he leaned forward, folding his arms along the edge of the desk between them. “And I can’t really afford to be angry right now, because there’s something I gotta tell you…and I think it’s gonna be more than a little shocking.”
Gregory raised an eyebrow, concern etched on his weathered features. “Tom Tom, you’re scaring me here.”
“Don’t be scared, Dad. Everything’s fine…but I need to tell you a story. The real version this time. Started back in 1874 when I was born in Budapest, Hungary…”
Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 609