Mike could see the kid had a natural aptitude as he made the dirt and sand explode from seemingly nothing outside of the moon base. The young ginger turned with a wide grin to look at Mike, who tried to look impassive.
“So?” said the kid, “What’d you think?”
“Not bad.”
Dust hung in the air outside of the base, covering the northern part of the dome. He would have to pay Starfall to go outside and wash the dome someday.
“Not bad?” the kid, whose name was Jaimie, said in his light Irish lilt. “Who else can do that?”
Mike raised his hands slowly, and outside, the ground rumbled. Jaimie whirled to see a huge piece of jagged stone come rising out of the dust and dirt of the ground. When it cleared the dirt, it dropped to the ground with a loud thump that echoed throughout the base.
“You were saying?” Mike hoped the kid didn’t see him sweat.
“Oh, uh, um, okay.” Mike wiped his brow seconds before Jaimie faced him.
“Do you plan on learning more elemental magic?”
“Yeah. Just a little bit of everything, you know.”
“Jack of all trades, master of none.”
Jaimie tilted his head. “What’s that?”
“You learn a little bit of everything, you don’t learn anything thoroughly.”
He shrugged. “That’s okay. I’m not going to do magic for the rest of my life anyway.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to be in a band!”
“A band.”
He nodded. “Uh huh! I played drums in some bands back in Ireland and in New York.”
“How long have you been in the United States?”
“Four years.”
“You here on a visa?”
“My parents are, yeah.”
“Do your parents know you’re here?”
“I’m 19! They don’t need to know, but they do.”
“Nineteen might mean you’re an adult in the world but you’re still considered a teenager.” Mike looked out at the jagged rock. It was an eyesore. He’d teleport it somewhere else on the moon later. Teleporting was a lot easier than trying to put it back. Mike turned back to Jaimie. “Do you have any other clothes than that?”
“Yeah.”
“I’d suggest you change into them before meeting Scott or he’ll think you’re another homeless boy and will have me magic-up some clothes for you.”
“I kinda, well, need a uniform. To go heroing out with, you know what I mean?”
“I’ll leave that to Scott.” He glanced at Jaimie’s perfectly-formed abs. “Maybe I’d better not.”
“How come? Oh, he’s the one with the strategic holes in clothes, am I right?”
“That would be him.” Mike went over to the computer. “Kelvin already entered your information in.” He muttered, “Thank God.” He spoke up again, “You’re already registered with PRIMUS, and you should have an ID coming to you. Or you can pick it up at the PRIMUS office. And I see he gave you a ring already?”
“Yeah, about that.” He tucked a hand in his pocket and pulled out a black onyx band. “It doesn’t work.”
“Of course it doesn’t work. It’s not attuned.” Mike took the ring and closed it in his fist. “There, it should work now. Where did you get teleported?”
“In the middle of the desert.”
“Which is where this stone came from.” He handed the ring back to Jaimie. “Be careful with it. If you lose it, it’ll teleport whoever gets it to hell.”
Jaimie looked at the ring. “Oh.”
“Meanwhile, I’m going to have a talk with Kelvin.”
“Is he in trouble?”
“Just a little.”
“He didn’t mean to.”
“Don’t you worry about it, Jaimie. Come back tomorrow and there’ll be a uniform waiting for you.”