He staggers when he comes out of it, sucking in a gasp. He feels exhausted, like he's been fighting for hours, and there's a deep ache spreading through his body. 

He hadn't quite expected it to feel like this, though in hindsight he really should have. He had just torn out a piece of himself. 

Aaron reacts first to steady him. "Are you alright? Did it work?"

He grips him for a moment, catching his bearings, and then staggers upright.

"...Yeah, I... yeah, it's gone." He swallows, "I feel... kind of sick." 

"You are still above regular levels of health. But you are not actually whole. It will go away soon enough."

"Wait until you manage to learn how to take gifts from the vault. It feels the opposite while still be disconcerting."

"Like being overstuffed or something? Bursting at the seams?"

"Like that, very similar to how one can feel a gift build up, but all in one go."

"How long should it take before we can do that?" He asks their magic teacher, "And do you guys need to do anything else out here, or should we start heading back?"

"Maybe we should check the vault in case Alexei took any valuables from there."

"First, 3 out of 10 on that joke. Second, no we can fly back and let rest for the day. Then we both can do a non-crash course version of teaching you how to access the vault tomorrow."

Jamie laughs, "'Lexei wouldn't steal." He grins at Aaron, "It's me you should be shaking down if you're worried about that. Who knows where I could be hiding valuables?" 

(Not many places, really, he's wearing jeans and that's it.)

Alex rolls his eyes, smacking Jamie on the shoulder as he lifts into the air, "Leave it alone, Jay." He nods at Topher, "Sounds good. Do you guys actually have a list of what gifts are in the vault? Especially of which ones you want out of it." 

Aaron pretends to check James out. "Well, obviously... not in your person. That would be the first place to look. And we do, can't be entirely sure it's complete - Temple thinks there could be hidden gifts that don't come out as monsters - I can show you."

"I wasn't in the same rush as you, because dad was holding to the memory gift after uncle Tom died, but I did want to learn vault access specifically, so I could have it."

(Jamie pouts at Alex, reluctantly leaving it be instead of commenting on where he could be hiding things on his body.)

"That'd be good - we could start thinking about which gifts we're gonna swap out now, unless there's something really obvious." Back to the house?

"Back to the house. We got the more urgent gifts out. Franklyn's wanted his disney princess gift for fun, but it was also a really good tactical decision. Of the ones that still in the vault the... nothing tactically obvious, but there is one that set up these magical land-mine things. They are easy to avoid, but annoying to have to walk around during combat. And there was that toxic smog one too."

"Yeah, with that one the main problem is visibility. We can just convert other lifeforce into breath and wear googles so it doesn't sting our eyes, but your gift," he looks at Jamie, "should deal with it pretty easily, so don't feel pressured."

"Which aspect do those ones tie to? Health, or something else?" 

"Health for the smog and stamina for the land-mines."

They are nearing the Grayward home, isn't flight so practical?

So practical! 

"Maybe you could take the smog and I could take the land mines?" He suggests to Alex, "If I don't get something that would be worse to have in the vault as my stamina gift, anyway." Alex shouldn't get that one either way though, really. 

"Sounds reasonable," Alex agrees, "We should see what else is in there before we decide, though."

He heads for the kitchen when they land, feeling very hungry from the interaction with the vault. Jamie stays outside and loiters up in the air for as long as he can, sunning himself.

Topher follows Alexei inside, but mostly to prepare some tea to drink.

Aaron looks at James, then vaguely up towards the sun, then at the pool.

He strips off his clothes and dives right in. Flying out of the water for a moment, the back.

Jamie rolls over to watch, slowly making his way over to float above the pool, descending so he can skim his fingertips through the water. 

"...Hey Aaron," he calls over, "Gotta question for you."