He sat on the floor, in case the process took a while, and peered closely at the hydrangea plant. It was already a pretty decent size, so Juka’s bubble around it was big. He squinted a little, it seemed to help last time to shift his vision into whatever weird micro-scoping thing it had done before. A normal mental ‘listening in’ on the plant might have worked too, or using his eyes to see the growth if it was fast enough to be observable, but he took this watching job very seriously. He wanted to ensure the highest rate of reliability.

His vision hurtled forward, the bubble presented no barrier to his powers this way. Kai watched eagerly as the cells began dividing at a rapid pace. At least, more rapid than normal growth. “I think it’s working,” Kai announced clearly. It was probably an unnecessary comment, since Juka already knew that the bubble had that effect. Sill, better to be clear.

He’d have to watch a little longer to gauge the rate of growth, but it was certainly accelerated noticeably in this view, even if it seemed slower than what he had done in the past. Hmm… I’ve never really watched this way when I was making something grow. I might have to do an experiment of my own to find out my rate…

Even if Juka wasn't able to see the effects of his power immediately, it didn't take him long to be able to feel the effects. Controlling time within his bubbles was different than simply making them and floating around in them. Floating around took almost no energy at all, especially when it was only himself floating. With his anvils he could feel the strain, but it was fairly minimal. He could float with them for hours before he really began to feel like he needed to rest. Time control, however, took a lot more out of him.

It took only a minute or two before Juka began to feel the energy from his body going from himself into his bubble and from his bubble into the plant inside the bubble. He couldn't really describe exactly what it felt like, except for a pulling sensation combined with a large amount of physical exertion. As the minutes ticked by the feeling of exertion got stronger. It didn't feel as if he needed to sleep, he wasn't even sure it was possible to sleep any more, but was more of a total body exhaustion, as if he was running a long race and needed to sit down and rest.

Juka wasn't certain how long he stood there, concentrating on the plant and willing it to grow. He smiled at Kai at the mention of his power working and, by that time, was even able to see a small change in the plant. Finally, the flowers on the plant began to burst into bloom and he grinned before dropping his bubble. "My dear Kai, I think I've done it!" Triumph in his voice but also exhaustion. He was pretty sure that he would need a bit of time to rest before returning home. Hopefully Kai woudln't mind too terribly much.

Kai refused to be bored, even as the minutes stretched by. Actually, watching the plant grow and change was rather fascinating to him, so it was impossible to be bored. He was starting to get a little bit of a headache, though. He tried to focus on what was happening on the macro scale, but seeing both angles at once was dizzying. Thus, he was surprised when Juka shouted triumphantly and he was distracted.

He was somewhat surprised to see how big and full the hydrangea head had gotten. Kai tried to compute mentally the rate of growth. Normally the cells divide at… and they were faster, so… in macrocosm growth was accelerated as a whole at a certain rate… carry the two. “You compressed the growth of a couple of days into a couple of hours. So that’s what, thirty times faster than normal? That sounds about right.”

He offered his hand for a high five. “That’s impressive man, well done!”

Juka didn't want to make poor Kai too bored as he experimented with his power but every so often he looked in the teenager's direction and he seemed to be almost as into the whole experiment as Juka himself was. He had no idea what Kai might be seeing as he sped up the plant's growth, but whatever it was seemed to be holding his attention.

"Thirty times normal?" Juka gaped at Kai for a moment, trying to wrap his head around it. "That's pretty good, isn't it." He nodded tiredly. Now that he had some idea of both what he could do and how fast he could do it, he supposed the next step was practicing enough so that this unnatural exhaustion would no longer grip him after using his time control powers. That, however, would most definitely have to occur on another day.

Juka returned Kai's high five, though admittedly with less enthusiasm than he normally possessed. He simply wasn't used such intense physical exhaustion. "Say, do you mind terribly if I stick around for a little bit before floating out of here? It seems to have taken a lot out of me." Next time he saw Kai he would bring him even more presents to repay him for his help.

“By all means, please stay for a while until you are feeling better. I just have to close up shop quick, then we can relax in my apartment upstairs if that’s convenient for you.”

Closing the shop took all of twelve seconds and involved Kai flipping the ‘Open’ sign to ‘Sorry, we’re closed’ and flicking off some of the lights. Then he led the way upstairs. After an exciting day, he was kind of looking forward to putting his feet up and having a few drinks with a new friend. Legal, non-alcoholic drinks, of course, since he was underage.

He led Juka to the living-room area and offered him a seat on the futon. “Can I get you anything? I think we have some soda in the fridge…”

Juka gave Kai a relieved and grateful smile. Some time very soon he as going to pay the teen back, no doubt about it. For the time being, however, he was glad just to be able to sit and not do anything. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this drained of energy, certainly not since his time manipulation powers had appeared. Hopefully practice would help negate those particular unpleasant effects.

"First I'm going to offer you a bubble ride and second I'm going to find you a girl," Juka informed Kai. If his voice wasn't quite up to its usual levels of perkiness, the thought was still there. "Its the least I can do to repay you, you lovely individual." Because it was important for him to know that Juka wasn't taking advantage of him and that his kindnesses were appreciated.

"Soda would be lovely," Juka agreed. While he didn't technically need to drink much of anything, maybe a nice sugar rush was exactly what he needed.

Rummaging around the fridge for but a few moments was enough to make Kai vow to reorganize and restock. They only had coke, diet coke, and pepsi. All boring and all the same. He grabbed two cans of boring and turned back to his guest. “I hope coke is alright.”

He tossed one can in Juka’s direction and plopped himself down on an open chair. “A bubble ride sounds great… I would be in the bubble, right? ‘Cuz I might be afraid of heights. There aren’t many high heights in Iow- back home. And as for a girl, I mean date…” Kai cut himself off before he could dig a giant hole for himself. He accomplished this by beginning to chug his soda rather vigorously.

The soda can was half empty by the time he could speak again. “I don’t know if you really noticed, but I don’t really have a lot of practice with girls. I guess I kind of get tongue tied and awkward.” Maybe Juka could help in this area? He seemed rather cool and collected around even Lori in her uncladness.

Juka gratefully accepted to offered pop and took a drink. He was all ready starting to feel a little better, though maybe it was all in his head. It wasn't like he was going to go run a marathon or anything, but sugary goodness was most certainly to his liking.

"Coke is perfect," Juka assured Kai brightly. "And yes, you would be in the bubble." He wasn't quite certain how one could have a bubble ride without being in the bubble. Did he think maybe he'd end up on top of the bubble or something? "I assure you, there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of."

Now the girl was, perhaps, another situation entirely. "Kai, my dear, if you need help with girls you have come to the right man, I assure you. I promise not only to find you someone sweet and lovely just like yourself, but I'll even help give you pointers on how to woo her into your arms. You may be a little unpolished but I'm certain we can fix that." Actually it was the first time he had ever gotten the opportunity to tutor in such a manner, but surely his own experiences would serve him well?

Kai’s palms started to sweat a little at the mention of girls and he wasn’t entirely sure that ‘woo’ was even in his vocabulary, but he ignored these facts. He focused instead on the glimmer of hope presented by Juka and the possibility of ‘pointers’.

“That would be great,” he breathed with relief. “I don’t have much experience with girls, so if you are offering…I could use all the help I can get.” Kai finished lamely and nodded. If one had to approach girls, it was always a good idea to have a more experienced guy-friend there to help him out. Kai tended to put his foot in his mouth from time to time when he was around the fairer sex, even without the added pressure of it being an official date. Which raised one other issue…

“But… Juka, what would I wear?”

"You leave everything to me," Juka stated with a grin. Oh, he was looking forward to this. Not only was he going to be helping his friend out to find a romantic partner, but he had also just been given permission to help him find something to wear as well and while he wasn't as experienced as he led on in tutoring people in romance, he was definitely experienced with fashion.

"For now, I should be going. I promise you, all you need is a little patience and everything will be wonderful." With a smile and a wave Juka rebubbled himself (though it took a little more effort than usual) and lifted into the air. He was glad that, for once, he didn't have his anvils to carry around with him because he simply wasn't sure he was up to it. The remainder of the day and likely most of the night, he decided, would be spent at home reading a book.