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It is a lovely Saturday morning. Feathered children are watching cartoons; furred adults are eating brunch; scaled teenagers - one scaled teenager in particular, actually - is arguing with the proprietor of a magic shop.
"How did these items get made if there's no way to learn magic? Are the magicians homeschooling their children and not writing any books? How did you learn?"
"Half this stuff is antiques," says the shopkeep. "Look, asking me a dozen times isn't gonna make the answer more to your liking. I don't have Hogwarts in the basement, deal with it."
"But where do you get the stuff that isn't antique - who made the Avalon itself? - isn't anybody panicking about the medallion supply? -"
"Kid, nobody knows how to make medallions."
"But some people apparently know how to make luck charms and protection amulets!"
"I'm not going to give out my suppliers' personal information. I wouldn't do it even if you weren't annoying."
"There have to be books -"
"Does this look like a library to you?"
maybeso
asteptotheright
"Several of the good ideas were in the date part. It's nice to be with someone who thinks this kind of thing is a good recreational conversation topic."
asteptotheright
"...She does think magic is a good recreational conversation topic, and she has good ideas, and she's funny and intelligent and her smile, she has the most beautiful smile. And she hugged me spontaneously at the park and she was so warm and she kissed me after it was over and it was--I think I need to apologize to you for mocking you for running off with Daphne at odd moments to make out, if it felt like that." He rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands. "Jaromira, I have it so bad. I haven't really had anyone but you since we were eleven, and--" he swallows. "I'm scared of--going too fast, or getting clingy, and ruining everything."
jumptotheleft
"Aww." Jaromira hugs her brother. "It's good that you've got someone other than me. Talk to her if you're worried about messing up. Tell her that you're not good at being close to people, and how exactly you expect that to impact things. If she's really as wonderful as all that, she won't take it too badly as long as you phrase it as 'I'm concerned about your boundaries please help define them more specifically' rather than 'I expect to behave badly.'"
asteptotheright
He leans into the hug. "Thank you," he says quietly. "You're--so much better at people than I am." He giggles. "That was one of the things that was funny, even, we joked that extroversion was witchcraft and it ended up with the Inquisition with the comfy chair--you know, from Monty Python--versus the tea we made with the boiling spell and an 'interrogation'."
maybeso
May is at the Avalon the next afternoon with a shiny
asteptotheright
"I'm fine. I just..." he trails off. "I've always been an introvert, but when my mother died, I withdrew. For almost a year Jaromira was the only other human being I would talk to. I've gotten better since then, obviously, but I'm not good at figuring out what's appropriate or healthy concerning human relationships. ...I don't know if I'm actually in love with you yet, but I seem to be very infatuated at the very least. I do not want to get clingy or pushy or otherwise problematic, but I'm not completely certain where the boundaries are."
maybeso
"I... haven't noticed any problems yet? Is there something in particular you're worried will happen or do you just have generalized anxiety about your ability to read signals and make guesses?"
asteptotheright
"The latter. I didn't think I had done anything wrong yet, but--I want you to know that if I do, you can tell me and I will back off. I don't expect to, but. People usually don't."
maybeso
"Okay, noted. I wasn't really worried about it, for whatever that's worth in assuaging your concerns. I can use my words, I did not expect any such words to fall on deaf ears, and if they did I can go all pointy."
asteptotheright
Kanimir shows her his list. Large chunks of it are the same as hers, but there are some areas where they don't overlap.
maybeso
"All right, comparing and contrasting..."
She pulls up her own list, quizzes him on why he included the meanings she didn't include, explains the ones she has and he doesn't. The goal is consensus; ideally neither of them is casting a spell that either one thinks has been done wrong.
She pulls up her own list, quizzes him on why he included the meanings she didn't include, explains the ones she has and he doesn't. The goal is consensus; ideally neither of them is casting a spell that either one thinks has been done wrong.
asteptotheright
He focused more than her on the possible duration of the spell, and on reflection that rune over there might be better suited to a magic item than a scroll.
maybeso
And she was trying to do too much with incantation and picks up a couple runes that she'd been planning to cover with extra French nouns.
"This look about right?" she asks, when they've merged the sets into something agreeable.
"This look about right?" she asks, when they've merged the sets into something agreeable.
asteptotheright
"I think so. It would be better if there was a third party to look it over for us, of course, but..."
maybeso
"But. I mean, I guess we could wait until Jaromira or Daphne gets around to reading through the textbook? Are they likely to?"
maybeso
"When do you think they'll be through the chapters on the meanings so they could triangulate?"
asteptotheright
"By...Wednesday, I think. Those two allocate their mental resources differently because they're more social than we are, but they're both still very intelligent and they read fairly fast."