"Oh that's cool! So it would help with a cold but not a bruise?"

"It helps with injuries too! But, like, not immediately. It makes wound infection a lot less likely, and that's actually a pretty big deal for, like, burns and stuff? And it helps your cuts heal faster and with less scar tissue. But it's really just not powerful enough to save someone who's bleeding out right now." 

....Oh no she said 'like' at least twice just then? And she's pretty sure she was doing uptalk. Probably? Was she doing it– oh no now she's doing uptalk in her HEAD why is she like this. 

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense! I bet you'll be able to do some really awesome stuff in a couple years when you can dump a big pile of mana into things."

"Yeah, I hope so!" 

And, all right, that totally counts as having done her fair share of carrying the conversation, so now Shannon is going to look over expectantly at Raleigh. 

"....I had, uh, history of magical conflicts? It was - fine. I guess." He's mostly distracted remembering the awkwardness with Malik. 

"Neat. Is it going in chronological order, or what?"

"....Maybe, but I got the impression it was also going in the order of - I don't know, theory first and then specifics? It was mostly just talking about the whole abstract concept of conflict between people or countries. Which, I mean, it was sort of interesting? But I couldn't figure out how it obviously applied to anything I've heard on the news, and it definitely didn't have any spells." 

"Learning how to avoid fights is useful but you can't really do diplomacy with a mal. I got a spell for transmuting food in my last class, which is kind of a waste of mana given that we already have transmuted food, but maybe parts of it will show up again somewhere else."

"Mmm." 

"- Oooh, I'd actually be really curious to see that spell? Uh, if you're - willing to trade it for something else I know or can give you, I guess. A lot of healing spell drafts I was working on depend on being able to convert ingredients into a particular substance that a person's body especially needs when they're sick or injured...?" 

"Ooh, yeah, I don't know if it will do things that aren't generally conceptualised as food but it's worth a try; what spells've you got that you'd be willing to teach?"

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

”- Uh - I have a spell that makes someone pee even if their bladder is paralyzed? …I didn’t mean to invent that spell, it just - happened. And I have a spell that can make scars less visible? I - also have a bunch more drafts, just, I don’t have enough mana  to cast them yet…”

"You can also just trade me for something you learned as a kid. It's okay if I can't cast it yet; I don't know if either of us can cast the food spell yet either."

"Ooh, yeah - I'd have to get my notes from my room to see all of them, but I learned this French spell that, uh - drives off a lot of kinds of mals? My dad says the way it works is by making a really loud sound only the sound is a higher pitch than what humans can hear? He says it's like a dog whistle. It works a bit when I cast it - uh it definitely makes actual dogs flip out and run away - but if you cast it at full power it's apparently pretty incapacitating to mals that can hear it." 

"That sounds awesome and I will totally trade you the transmutation spell for it. I'm spending work period with Vanya in the library, if you want to stop by with your notes. And I can teach you the--wait, I forgot to ask, do you speak Korean?"

"I - um -" Wait crap of COURSE a spell Marcy got in Korean History is in Korean, she is such an IDIOT. "I - sorry - I don't." Her face is hot again. 

Marcy feels kind of dumb too for forgetting that not everyone knows Korean. Some of her squadmates don't even know Korean. "Rats, there goes my end of the trade. I can teach you an English spell for sealing and unsealing a box? It costs mana on both ends and a senior or a really determined mal could force it but it's in-affinity for my yearmate Franklin and he uses it a lot."

"- Oooh! That'd be really good actually, I want to keep my rarer alchemy ingredients sealed up..." 

And they can spend the rest of the lunch period talking about and exchanging spells. 

Just before the bell, a girl comes over from the Sacramento table. "Hey. Marcy?" 

"Oh, hi, yes," this must be Cassie here to show her where Vanya is. "Shannon, Raleigh, it's been rad and I'll see you later." She shoves her last slice of bread in her mouth like a deranged chipmunk, grabs her bag, and rolls out.

[Continues in https://glowfic.com/posts/5172]