Restlessness was a feeling that Nolan was not too fond of. However, lately the feeling that he had to do something, change something, travel and just not be inactive was overwhelming. He had been planning to break with the Council, to fight the Ministry for decades. He was waiting for the right moment to start a revolution but would that moment ever come? Sometimes he was mad at himself, thinking that he was just a coward, searching for excuses as to why it was better to wait rather than to act. He had spoken to so many elementals, trying to figure out where they stood and trying to influence their thinking but it proved difficult to find out if they'd join his fight or not. After all, he could hardly ask bluntly if they'd want to fight the establishment. If they didn't want to he'd have to silence them so they wouldn't betray him and while he didn't mind that too much there was always the risk that he might be arrested just because he murdered a stupid elemental who was just one among so many brainwashed idiots that were loyal to the Council.
After he had spend some time in Neroli, Nolan wasn't too eager to get back to Scotland as that just reminded him of how he was not making any noticeable progress in his endeavour. He decided to go to Paris. The French capital was a place that the stone elemental rather liked. He wanted to see La Defense as a kind of inspirational excursion. Modern architecture was always thrilling to see and maybe he'd just let one of the buildings crash for his own amusement. He liked to destroy things sometimes, it was a way of stress relief and a demonstration of what he was able to do.
However, the buildings in the modern quarter of the city were not instilling the wish in him to destroy them. It was a warm and sunny day and the light reflecting in the glass facades of the buildings was actually a rather pretty sight. So the demin zealot made his way to the Montmartre where he decided to get his picture painted just for the fun of it. He asked a local artist to do his portrait on the market place and sat down, staring fiercely at the painter. They chatted a little and Nolan found it amusing to let the young man guess his age which naturally he couldn't do. He didn't even get close. Nolan's booming laughter echoed from the walls of the surrounding buildings and some people looked at him suspiciously. He didn't care. Instead he told the people around him to take a good look at him because one day they could tell their children and grandchildren that they have seen him when he sat portrait for an artist that would then be famous just because he painted him.
Naturally people thought him insane and Nolan didn't care. He'd teach them to show him proper respect sooner or later! As a first lesson he let the cobblestones at the place wobble a little. As some people screamed that there was an earthquake, Nolan could hardly hide his pleasure. They had become witnesses of a little demonstration of the power of Nolan Cairns! As he was still enjoying his display of elemental magic, he could sense a fellow elemental not too far away. Curiously he looked around, certain to be reprimanded any second from now.
