Blowing off some steam (open)

Sighing from a long day of sweat and tears Brian stood surrounded around the random assorted pots and pan and dented cans and began to set the cans in a circle. Brian lifted one of the cans in one hand and threw it into the air. Once the can began to fall down Brian did an overhead kick and sent the can into another can causing a quiet tink as the metal collided. Brian smiled. This was his past time, Smacking cans into other cans... it was sad but unfortunately Brian couldn't afford a television or any of the normal entertainment that teens his age had, so until then he would be stuck kicking cans in the escentric fashion that he had grown accustom to.

As Brian let his face soften he picked up another can and faced one of the none fallen cans and threw the can he had in his hand into the air.

Something smelled...delicious. Jemmy hadn't expected to think that wandering in the junkyard, but it was true. Somewhere nearby there was power.

The child looked quite out of place among the junk heaps. She was wearing a clean blue dress and holding a red balloon. The way she shivered, it would be natural to assume that she was cold. In reality, she actually felt like she needed some ice cream.

Jemmy saw Brian, the source of the power. She could tell that he was only a small part of a greater power. Perhaps this poor being had been weakened in a similar way to Jemmy herself. She would have felt sorry for the man...if she had a heart.

"Hi there," Jemmy said, genuinely happy to meet this stranger. "You look bored. I feel sad when people are bored. Do you like magic?"

Once again trying to kick in the same fashion Brian tried to do an overhead kick once more, but hearing an unexpected greeting caught him off balance causing him to fall flat on his face. The can just fell on top of Brian's head. Lifting himself up he saw a little girl standing before him.

"Bored? I'm not bored?" Brian tried to look entertained even though he was obviously bored. Once he heard the girl say something about magic Brian's body stiffened. His mind went back to the time when he was part of one of the greatest warriors in his word. The power he had was great but that time was lost niow due to magic, and because of that Brian wanted no part of that kind magic. But maybe the girl was talking about parlor tricks like pulling a rabbit out of her hat or making a coin dissapear.

"Yes" Brian said with a small smile. "I love magic."

Jemmy giggled. The stranger said that he loved magic.

"Okay, I have a surprise for you. Close your eyes."

It had been too long since Jemmy had enjoyed a nice meal. This stranger would do nicely. She walked up to him, giggling, then aimed a punch at his stomach. The punch was strong enough to kill a normal human outright. But even if Brian survived, that was okay. Meat tasted better after a struggle.

Of course, this was assuming Brian had actually closed his eyes, and not simply pretended. You could never trust a human.

When the girl told Brian to close his eyes, Brian closed his eyes... but not all the way he left enough room for his eyes to see through his eyelashes. So when the girl threw a punch Brian jumped back as far as he could to dodge the punch.

Keeping his eyes shut Brian gave a wide smile. "Sorry did I mess up the trick? I've been training for so long that whenever I feel something unexpected come I just... react." And react he did. As Brian jumped back Brian let his skin crawl... so to speak. In the confusion of the move the girl shouldn't have noticed it.

At least it meant Brian would be ready for a fight if the girl wanted one. Keeping his wide smile and scratching his head Brian fished into his pocket and pulled out a bag a cookies and shoved one in his mouth. "Wamppp ufff (want one?)"

Brian jumped back, evading Jemmy's attack. She scowled at him. What an mistrusting human. Sure, she was planning on eating him to absorb his power, but he shouldn't know that. Even if she was trying to punch him, he shouldn't know that she could actually hurt him. She was a 10 year old girl after all. The fact that he evaded her at all meant that he knew she was a threat. It might be subconscious knowledge, but Jemmy's innocent appearance hadn't fooled him.

Brian pulled out cookies and offered one to Jemmy. Jemmy laughed. To think that she could be distracted with sweets. She would kill this man, eat his flesh, and restore her former glory!

But that cookie looked...so yummy. And he was just...giving it to her. Jemmy couldn't say no to that. Accepting the cookie, Jemmy plopped down on the floor and nibbled on the cookie. The sugar was delicious. So sweet! Jemmy was so distracted by the yummy goodness that she forgot about Brian's power.

"This is really good. Thank you. I'm Jemmy, by the way."

Handing Jemmy a cookie Brian smiled. He really didn't expect for the girl to want a cookie, he expected for her to want to rip of Brian's head or something. Brian honestly was surprised that he even had the cookies in his pocker in the first place... but he guess that is something you would for a former daycare worker in charge of the toddlers.

Sitting cross-legged infront of Jemmy, Brian took a bite from a cookie and said.

"Your welcome, My name is Brian... I have a question, may I ask it?"

Brian had no idea why he was being polite probably because the girl prepared to sock him in the stomach in broad daylight. Brian was weary of her and right now he didn't want to provoke her into another assault.

Jemmy munched away on the cookie, carefree. Brian, the kind man who had given her the treat, wanted to ask a question.

"A question? Sure. Go ahead." Jemmy tossed what remained of the cookie in her mouth. She savored the last of it, but was sad that it was all gone. She looked around curiously, hoping another would appear.

Brian had a few questions in his head at the moment. First was why did she attack him and who was she, but he didn't think it would be the best question right now... Right now he wanted her to remain as calm as possible. Handing Jemmy another cookie from his bag he thought about how many cookies he had left... If he stopped eatting them he would have 4.

"Do you want to play a game? Winner gets the rest of the bag of cookies."

It was crude idea, Brian didn't expect her to accept it but it would be worth a shot.

Jemmy's hunger for sweetness started to fade, until Brian offered her another cookie. The little girl snatched it. Biting into the cookie, she listened curiously to what Brian said. She liked games, and there were more cookies for her if she won? Jemmy smiled. "All the cookies? Yeah, I'll play the game. So how do we play?"

Would it be a fight? A game of wits? A contest of some kind? Jemmy giggled. Even if she lost, she would not allow this man to escape with those cookies.

"Alright the game is something.... interesting... first off you wtart in a circle surrounded by cans"
Brian said as got up from the place he was sitting and moved inside the circle of cans he once made before. Picking up a single can that was outside of the can circle outline Brian continued to explain the game.

" Basically you have knock over the cans one by one using another can that you fire using your body and your body only. The big rule is that you cannot leave the circle and you must hit the can that you fired right before it hits another can unless it was propelled by another can. So if you knocks over the stationary can by bouncing off and object that is not your body or another can... You lose the round.... And this game is played with three rounds.. any questions?

Brian honestly had no idea what he just said... he just made up the game on the fly using rules that he used to kick the can as a form of training... and now he was about to play an abnormal little girl.

Surrounded by cans? Okay, Jemmy was with him so far. Brian then provided a long list of rules, and Jemmy was instantly lost. Hitting cans with cans that you hit with another can? This game didn't sound very fun.

Jemmy furrowed her eyebrows and glared at Brian. "I have a better game. It's where you give me the cookies and I let you live for a while." Jemmy did not like having her time wasted. She loved games, but they had to be fun. And how could they be fun if she didn't even understand them?

"Sorry but that game seems boring." Brian said letting his face soften. He wanted to find a way he could play with the girl... at least for the moment, but it seemed she wanted to take the cookies... by force. Brian honestly didn't want to have conflict of any kind. He had no reason to fight her... but it seemed that the girl wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"but if that's what you want come and get them."

Jemmy snatched the cookies from Brian and started stuffing them in her mouth. She felt elation and annoyance at the same time. "My game is boring?" she said with a mouth full of cookie crumbs. "You're the one with too many rules. You could have just suggested a race or something." Jemmy continued chewing for a while.

"So, what are you anyways? I know you have power, and if I eat you, I'll get stronger. See, I used to be a lot stronger than I am now. But then I got in trouble. I'd really like to get really strong again. You look really yummy, too. What do you say? Can I just eat you?"

Brian couldn't help but be a little surprised when the girl, talked about how she use to be stronger, hell... Brian wanted to ask if she was taller to but refrained from saying that. "What am I you ask... thing is... I don't know, like you I use to be alot stronger than I am now, now I'm so weak... I doubt you'd get any stronger or any enjoyment from eating me..."

Brian didn't really know why but the words flew out easily. Sighing Brian continued.
"Besides I would prefer if you didn't eat me. I rather like living and not being eaten."