"Oops."

"Yeah," he says, picking himself up off the floor. Looking down at his clothes, they're a bit... covered in milkshake.

He puts the glass down, fetches a plastic cup, fills it with some milk, and finds a straw for it. After placing a towel down over the spill, he then disappears upstairs to have a shower and get a change of clothes.

Slurp!

Theo's back down shortly. He picks up the towel and mops the floor.

Cerberus has finished drinking!

He has also managed to open the refrigerator and is analysing its contents.

Theo watches him suspiciously, making sure he doesn't try to grab anything fragile.

Eventually he decides there's nothing there he wants, so he floats over to Theo. "So, how was meditating yesterday?"

"I think I saw the other card you were talking about," he responds.

Oh, and that reminds him. "There were also some connections from me to you and the cards...? What were they?"

"Ah, yes! As the cardcaptor, the cards subsist on your magic, and since I am their guardian, I do, too. That's why Windy was weaker than Fly, even though it should be stronger—it was relying on your magic, which is still weak."

"... They... subsist on my magic? You're just using my magic, and you didn't even ask me? Or think to tell me!?"

"No, that's not exactly it. You have a—magical capacity. Mine and yours are linked, so the stronger you are, the stronger I am, and the stronger are the other cards. And when you use a card, the more magical capacity you have, the more it can do."

"So it's not a reserve that you're draining, it's just a ceiling on what you can do? ... Does it grow with time, or what?"

"Yes! And it grows with time and practice and meditation and understanding. If you just wait and never talk to your cards and never use your magic again, it'll stagnate."

"If it stagnates, does it get harder to grow more, or is it just that it doesn't grow? Not that I'm gonna let it stagnate anyway."

"The second thing."

"So should I summon Windy and ask her to make my clothes dramatically billow in the non-existent wind for a bit, or what?"

"It's more about doing more things than doing things more."

"More variety? So maybe get her to go disperse some clouds, since I haven't done that yet?"

And that's a point – "Is Windy invisible to non-magical people, too, or is that only Fly and maybe some other cards?"

"That doesn't really count as anything new. And Windy is invisible, too, but some other cards aren't."

"Well, I suggested manipulating sound with Windy earlier, so would that count as something new? I know she's not as good at it as Song or Voice, but she could still do it, right?"

"Right!"

"Okay," he says. He runs back upstairs, grabs the Key and the cards off his desk, and returns back to the kitchen. He reactivates his staff, saying the mantra (yet again), and says, "Can you wave if you can hear me? I'm gonna get Windy to try stopping my voice from reaching you."

Theo summons Windy, placing her card in front of him and tapping it with the staff.

"Sure."

And there she is, smiling as usual.

"Okay, Windy, can you try to silence my voice before it reaches Cerberus? Or redirect it. Just try to stop him from hearing what I say without hurting him."

At first, Theo just mouths words, not making any noise, to make sure nothing weird's happening. He starts whispering, and then gets continually louder, seeing whether Windy can block any of the sound completely; if so, how much, and if not, how much of an effect does it seem to have on his voice?