Look at all the people! There's so many! Okay, can't befriend literally all of them right now, so prioritize maybe one or two and get the housing thing sorted.

Awww, what's up with the draconic-looking girl off by herself? She knows first-hand that looking evil doesn't mean you are, nor the converse, so she should totally befriend her.

But wait. Line. And she'd have to let go of Lenora.

She's still been holding Lenora's hand this whole time!?

She can handle this. She's twenty-three and powered by manic determination, she's totally got this.

"So, wanna jump into the line, or try befriending someone first, or divide and conquer?"

"I'm honestly pretty tired after the day I've had. Go talk to whoever caught your eye, I'll hold the spot and we can ask for rooms next to each other or however it works."

"Okay! Thanks for holding the line down for us." She squeezes Lenora's hand, then bounces casually over to the probable-Dravir.

She's downright sedate (by her standards, at least) by the time she gets close, walking peacefully up. She tilts her head and smiles curiously at the girl.

"Hi. You look like something's botherin' ya. What's on your mind, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Well, depends on why you're asking I guess. I've had one heck of a few days..." She's standing defensively. Hands in hoodie pockets, watching warily.

Her ears droop a little and she nods. "Enormous mood, honestly. Sorry it's been rough. I'm askin' 'cause I'm irrepressibly curious and like making friends, I guess? And I don't like leaving things unhelped if I can help."

Is it entirely natural for this toonshaded foxling to look this cute and earnest? Possibly not. Is it deliberate? Also no.

"The problem is that people don't seem to like me. It's like I'm cursed. And also apparently I have to break things to get more mana. If you asked me what I wanted from magic I would have said making potions, but apparently not." Huff. A fairly intimidating huff, really. Quiet growl and showing teeth included.

"Well that's just unfair. Nobody should have to deal with a persistent magic aura of dislikability."

"There are probably solutions for the breaking things, like maybe practicing a magic that makes things and then breaking those things to recharge?"

She shakes her head. "And you can probably take potions anyway. Nobody says species biases have to define you, or if they do they're wrong.

"There's gonna be a solution for all this, I'm sure of it."

"And I defy any aura that thinks it gets to decide who I do and don't like. That is simply not allowed. So I'll just like you anyway, and manually correct for any bias the stupid aura tries to impose."

She holds out her hand to shake.

"I'm Sable."

"...Abyssia. Thanks, if you're being serious. You don't even know everything yet, though..."

Handshake. She's careful with the claws, but those sure are some claws. It looks like her pants and hoodie have claw-shaped tears in them.

"Good to meet you! And I'm always serious about caring about people. I'm a trickster about lots of things, but this ain't gonna be one of 'em.

"And feel free to explain more. Those claws look like they're a bit of a handful."

"Yeah. Apparently I'm a warlock, I have no idea for whom." Lie. "But I got a feeling of - approval, I think, when I went all dragony and saved some hikers. From a bear. I had no idea what was going on, but apparently that was the wrong move on a local perspective. Killer headache, and then a bunch of people were after me and I still had no idea why I was a dragon all of a sudden, couldn't change back."

"Ooof. Masquerade headache. Least you got it for a better cause than I did, but ouch. And that sounds really confusing and frustrating for you."

"You can say that again. But pain is temporary. And now I need roommates if I want more than a little dorm room, which I do."

"Well, onward to meet the other member of my little Shitty Post-Awakening Experiences club, then?"

"Mm."

Lenora looks a little concerned when Sable starts bringing the intimidating-looking girl back towards her...

"Hi Lenora! This is Abyssia. She had the shitty luck of getting saddled with Resting Bitch Aura as a fun bonus with her Awakening, and I've decided that I don't like the idea of something like that getting to decide who I do and don't like."

Then she turns to Abyssia. "This is Lenora. She's an awesome and blasty sorceress. Call her cute at your own peril."

"Hi. I have no idea what's going on."

"...Hi. Me neither."

"...Sable, right? Why do you look. Animated."

"I'm so glad you asked! I am a hybrid of Inkborn and Mimi: Mimi being where I get the foxiness, Inkborn making me a character trope incarnate. Inkborn universally look like something out of cartoons or comics or art, painted or drawn. Thus," she gestures indicatively at herself, "cartoon fox."

The line moves up.

"And a mimi, like you two, get mana just from... Headpats. Hrm. Awkward, but easy."

"I guess. But awkward, yes. I was told you can also use Witch Kisses as mana, in emergencies for example. That's why they're so valuable, even if they take a long time to make."

"You can, definitely. And look at it this way: I can already think of an option or two for making destruction a viable, safe option for generating mana. At least you're not a Lilin. Lilin generate mana by violating their own and others' morals at the same time."

"Some kinds of witches are pretty inconvenient, huh. And where did all this come from anyway, that's what I want to know. There'd better be a history class here."

She bounces and wags. "Ooh, I definitely wanna learn about how all this madness happened. I bet they have one, for sure!"

"Oh, but Abyssia, you were saying something about how you need roommates if you want more than a bitty little dorm room?"

"Call me Bys. That's too long. Yeah, they told me I could get a dorm room by myself, or I could get assigned a house that has a real kitchen and some extra rooms. I don't want a dorm room, if I'm going to be living here for a good long while. But - only if I had at least a couple of roommates, they don't have enough houses to give them out for anybody."

"I'm going to have to ask what the transfer and reassignment policies are like though. What if we end up not getting along with each other, right?"

"Worthwhile question. I'm certainly gonna try my damnedest to help us all get along, 'cause I'm just that kinda madgirl, but I have no magical guarantees of making people like each other, and anything that could do that would be worrisome levels of mindfuckery. Sometimes people just are better as distant friends than living together, and y'can't fix that for love or money."

"I'm tired and grumpy and it's not really the best mental state for talking about this. We can mostly stay out of each others' way if we don't get along that great, right?"

"Well, I like playing death metal at maximum volume, microwaving fish curry, and leaving trash all over the house."

"Kidding."

Sable giggles. "Yeah, I can work with that."

"What are you two going to try to study? Aside from history. I'm thinking - my elementalism, there's probably classes on that, and it'd be nice to basically be the Avatar. Have you seen that show?"

"I've seen memes of it. Tea Grandpa?" (Lenora nods and grins.) "History. Potions. I think they recommend taking three things at a time? I don't know what else, have to think about it. Divination? I can do Identify."

Sable grins and nods at the Avatar reference. "Sound like good plans, both of you. I'm probably going to take four things, if I count history, since I'm an academic and a day without studying is a day without gains. Magic-wise, probably Runes, Portals, and Witchery. I wanna round those three out before picking up anything else."

"You talk like a native. I have no idea what to expect. That's why - Arcadia, I guess. Though I also dare not leave for a while."

"We're all three new to this stuff, I think. Sable's just irrepressible. Warlocks have to like - do quests to get more powerful, right? That sucks, I'm sorry. Even if quests sound cool."

"It is what it is. I'm trying not to dwell, just makes you sad for no reason."

"On the bright side? Quests sometimes also result in loot. I spent a bit of time window-shopping online for shinies I couldn't afford, before my ill-fated trip to the store for some ink, and they have things like a set of belts and garters and whatnot that allow you to instantly call potions to hand, and boost their effectiveness. Or a set of ritual tattoo needles and ink recipes for giving people runic tattoos."

She could just say it. 'I have a shield brooch... Thing. And a giant hammer.' It'd be friendly, move the conversation.

...Maybe she'll tell them later. When she actually knows who was hunting her until a friendly witch pointed her to Arcadia, and why.

"If you do anything describable as a 'quest' instead of a 'job'... Better be prepared as you can. Do your research, pack what you need. Then pack more. And be vigilant. To do otherwise is to invite defeat."

"I don't disagree, but yikes. What a serious take. Also, practice, practice, practice. In stories the best heroes aren't just strong, they're clever. They know their abilities well and use them creatively."

"So let's be all three: over-prepared, well-trained, and creative. Take quests we think we're overqualified for, and make ourselves even more overqualified before heading out. If there are problems in need of solving badly enough to get labeled quests, I wouldn't be me if I left 'em alone. So we just have to get so good that by any reasonable measure we should curbstomp it, and then we'll wind up barely scraping by because the world is terrible, and then train harder and do it again. Until we're the very best."

"I wouldn't say there's an 'us' quite yet, though it does seem like we have varied interests and natural talents. Flexibility."

"Room for synergy, and room to grow."

The line moves up.

Lenora is baited into a ramble about Avatar: The Last Airbender when Bys says something incorrect about Katara, and that plentifully occupies the rest of the time until they reach the front of the housing line.

"Next, please!"

As the trio walk forward, the redhead at the booth smiles, with a slight side-eye to Bys. "Oh, are you three a group? We can give you a standard house if you'd like, a four-bedroom. The board might want to give you another roommate at some point, though. There's a few spots left if you want that, and the other major option is dorms. We've got Wasatch, climate set to sunny and warm. Trinity, a more built-up domain loosely modeled off Europe that's set temperate. Or Scotia, which is designed as cool with occasional mist or rain. The climate is the main difference, unless you want to be near something specific."

Sable jumps in periodically about Avatar, because Katara is pretty great, until finally they reach the front.

"Ooh, those are neat," she says of the climates. "I have maybe a minor bias for Scotia? What d'y'all think?"

"That sounds nice. I like the cold."

"We can visit other places? No strong preference... Well, actual weather sometimes would be nice, really. Yeah, Scotia."

"Scotia it is! Alright, time for everyone's favorite fun pastime - Paperwork. Don't worry, it's not much. Just because you aren't pre-registered. Just a signature that you do intend to enroll in Arcadia and that you've read our common law. We're fairly relaxed around here. The rest is done behind the scenes by divination." She hands over three stately papers, each with a short list of rules and a statement and signature line at the bottom.

She reads the whole thing twice, and pauses to think about it before finally signing. The rules here are really minimal, just stuff anyone would consider illegal anyway really. Theft, assault, nonconsensual murder, destruction of property, harassment, consorting with Outsiders... And that's about it, in slightly more flowery language. She signs.

Lenora reviews it considerably less thoroughly before signing.

She reads it very carefully, all mania redirected into swift-but-deep review of the contract.

And then she signs it happily.

"Aaaand... Orientaton packets!" She produces three bundles from within her cloak with a flourish, taps each with a wand that appears with a few sparkles. "Maps that now have your house marked, class schedules - there's no graduation requirements, attend what you like - and Fusil runes for everyone. Welcome to Arcadia! Any questions?"

Fusil...

"Giving everyone free contraception. Nice."

"Mm-hm, it's a student council public health measure. Well worth the investment. It should be intuitive to activate, but there's a clinic marked on the maps if you have trouble. Any other questions?"

"House'll recognize us or something? What's the security like?"

"Yes, we have staff who prefer to stay out of the spotlight scrying this location and fixing everything up. The wards there are now keyed to you three as well as campus police and senior leadership. Nobody else will be able to get in without very serious power, unless you let them. Anyone can leave a house, though."

"Smart, not letting these very nice wards turn into a way to take prisoners."

"We have some very smart people here, it's fulfilling work to keep everything running smoothly for the Arcadia community. If you're interested, you should totally find something to volunteer at, from decoration and cleanup to orientation to the library to digimaintenance and on and on. Some roles are high trust, of course."

Lenora starts gently tugging the other two along. "Sure, we'll think about that later. Have a lovely day."

"NEXT!" Can be heard in the background as they leave. Lenora opens her map and studies it. "Looks like we have to turn right here and then walk down the street, then left by Daisy's Dairy Delight - restaurant, I guess."

Sable gladly lets herself be tugged. "Ooh. I wonder if they have ice cream."

And off in the distance, there are occasional hot springs. With hot witches in them. Her eyes flit about, taking everything in, from the scenery to the population to the navigation.

Be cool. Do not look at the scantily clad witches. But don't obviously NOT look either. A fine balance to strike. Are her eyes moving naturally? Is her pose neutral? Impossible to tell...

The occasional hot springs dotted around sometimes have wicker screens dividing them from the rest of the campus, or little brushes of vegetation, but some are simply open except for the warm mist spilling out. There are a good few swimsuits, and a few witches going entirely nude. Though not on the main thoroughfare, just in the semi-obscured pools. The crowd continues to be mostly female.

There are shops and student clubs and small lecture halls, all with red brick and ivy in that old Northeastern style. In this part of town, at least. There's stalls selling semiautonomous umbrellas, and unmelting ice cream, and pastries that revitalize you. Daisy's Dairy Delights has a moving illusion of a cow-girl with tropily large breasts, wearing a cowbell, spotted low-cut shirt and pants, and horns. She waves continually to the street, holding a slice of cheese and a glass of milk.

"This place really is kind of... Open, isn't it? Is that a witch thing? Or an Arcadia thing?"

No, Bys, you didn't go unnoticed. But Sable's not saying a damned thing, just making a mental note that you probably need help loosening up at some point.

"Heh, yeah, it really is. Just judging by what I saw online before, I'd say it's probably a witch thing?"

"Probably they're just less oppressed and this is what things look like if the Puritans aren't running things from 200 years in the grave, so much we all internalized it. Left here."

"Makes sense to me. Religious zealots do have a bad habit of ruining things in the name of their narrow-minded morality. And now we get to unlearn some of their damage!"

"Being a witch is going to be so amazing once we get over the parts of it that suck!" This is only slightly sarcastic.

They're mostly passing houses now, still in that nor'east style. There's an artful portal up ahead, a tall square with shimmering edges that opens onto a wholly different landscape. The aesthetic there seems to be more 'log cabin, but nice'. When they cross the threshold, it's abruptly chillier. Maybe fifty Fahrenheit.

A delighted shiver passes through Sable at the sudden chill. "Yes! Real weather!"

Bys smiles, breathing out clouds of condensation. And then a cloud of frost that adds a glossy layer of snow and ice to the side of the road, just to revel in it. "Mmmyep, real weather's nice."

"Mm-hm! Good choice. Oh uh, can you undo that? Don't want to leave it slippery."

"Urk. I don't think so..."

"Hold on, I think I can..." She adopts a rough Shaolin pose and punches forward. "HAH!"

-A small puff of pure sunny yellow fire appears with a flare and - hangs there.

"-Huh. I - Hmm. This isn't regular fire, it's... Sticky? Made of me? But I can still use it like this, let's just..."

She grabs her now-customized wand and with a look of focus moves the witchflame next to the frosted area and cranks up the heat, to clear the frost off the road.

"This is surprisingly tough..."

She wags excitedly. "Y'all. Are awesome."

"Hm. I feel like I can cut a rift to someplace hot, if that would help? But I think you've got it."

"I'm apparently a dragon. Dragons are cool and all but..." Sigh. "Yeah, it is kind of cool. Heh. Cool."

"No, I've got it..." Bright, hot. Back and forth. She tries to thin it out into a line, but it wobbles so she abandons that. And then she cuts the connection and lets it die, once most of the frost is gone.

"Whew. I think I'm low on mana? If that's what I'm feeling."

She grins and playfully hip-bumps Bys, though it winds up hitting her in the thigh.

"Well, Lenora, you got it done, and I bet there's a good spot somewhere in our new house for a backrub to fill your tank back up."

"Right, right. Mimis have it easy, ehehe."

She looks at the map to have a distraction. "Looks like ours is down that way? Number 26."

Bound and twirl and onward! "I'm looking forward to it!"

She bounces and wags, trying not to outpace her new housemates on their way to their new home.

She is tired, but as she re-broomifies her Rod and picks up all her bags with it again she notices that Bys has one lonely backpack. "If you need help shopping, let me know. I'll be glad to help. Tomorrow, I'm pretty tired today."

"Thank you, but I believe I can handle that. Actually, I am going to be making a grocery run so anything you two want, say now."

"Awesome. Okay, I'd be glad to help anytime you want it, but for tonight please get me some real ink. I am so tired of these cheap-ass knockoff Bic pens. I've only needed to have ink with my meals for a couple days now and already I long for something better."

She pulls one out of her purse and cracks it open illustratively, sucking on the end while she thinks.

"I'm not really picky. I kinda like cooking, when I have people to spoil with it, so getting plenty of ingredient-type things would be neat. Eggs, meat, vegetables, fish, spices, the usuals. Dust off some of Mom's old recipes. But really, I am so far from picky. As long as you get enough stuff to get us through the next day or two, I'll gladly help stock the kitchen after."

"Oh huh, that reminds me. Do y'all have opinions on like... ever eating meals together?"

Her tails lash slowly in her curiosity.

"I'd rather not commit to a schedule, though cooking for three is not much harder than cooking for one."

"As an irregular thing yeah, maybe. There's a reason eating together's a whole big deal, for personal connecting and stuff."

She nods. "Yeah, we're students at witch college, I don't think firm schedules are gonna be a solid part of our near future, except maybe for classes. I just think it would be nice to do sometimes. Like I could do breakfast on days when we all have to get up at similar times, maybe, or something like that. But no obligations or anything.

"Anyone got allergies to anything? Favorites? Things you don't like?"

"I can't eat steak, or pineapple, or sweet sauces without gagging slightly. Or fries. Never eat the food you serve for a living, you'll get sick of it in no time."

"I think I'm kind of carnivorous now."

"Mmkay. That's easy enough to work with. I have no allergies, but need to have ink with every meal, 'cause I'm a weird-ass cartoon character now."

"Ink. Good ink. Got it."

They get to the house. It has a big yard with pine trees in the back, and there's a little park area between the two rows of houses, with a rocky brook that streams directly into one of the ubiquitous hot springs two houses down. A quick walkaround reveals a big common room with nice couches, kitchen, two office or study room sort of areas, a small 'garage' clearly not intended to hold an actual car, more like a bicycle, two bathrooms and four bedrooms and a balcony with a little roof and furniture on an upper level.

Bys leaves again, dropping her backpack near the door, after a fairly cursory inspection.

"Sable I need to sleeeep. I need headpats and then to sleep. Maybe you do too actually. Headpats, at least."

If one looks very closely, one might see the faint fraying around the edges of Sable's grins. "You are so right, you have no idea. It has been a very long few days. We need a cuddle puddle. We need headpats and scritches and maybe I should tell a story and then we should just crash."

She lets out a heavy breath.

"Pick bedrooms, wash up for bed, meet up... wherever this headpatfest is happening?"

"Eenie meinie miney that one." She sends her broom up to it, and then wandifies it, letting the bags thump down. "In the den, on that couch."

Flooooop on the couch. Face first, still in T-shirt and tail hole'd jeans.

Sable floats her broom to a nearby bedroom to drop her bags while really quickly washing her face and brushing her teeth, vanishing the broom when everything's up.

And then she flops onto the couch next to Lenora, and drapes her tails over her. They're very soft.

"You want the first backrub or scritching or whichever? I don't mind."

She mumbles something unintelligible except for the word 'massage' into the couch and then flails with her left hand for a moment, before it finds a tail and starts gently stroking it.

Sable shivers, a happy little shudder running through her.

And then she sits up next to Lenora and starts giving her a backrub, slowly and carefully kneading any tension she can find out of the mousegirl's back and shoulders.

Oh that is niiice. She grips Sable's fur a bit when she starts, then relaxes.

"Needs a brush for you. And can you be a little more... Scratchy?"

"Totally. And yeah, I wanna get a good brush for mine eventually. What you're doing now feels really nice though."

She shifts to scratching, as best she can through the t-shirt. Actually, if she's scratching she doesn't need the leverage anymore.

She flops back down with a happy sigh, continuing to scritch.

Yeah. It's nice. She's way too tired to, like, do much more but she pushes her other hand out eventually. It can brush the fluffy tails too.

"Manaaaaa I feel it. Feels nice. I could fall asleep right here. And what I was actually saying was Chandra I used to work with does good massages and I could try to imitate them. Not asking for one, sorry."

Oh no twice the tail-petting mmmmmmm...

"The mana feels pretty greeaaat. The petting does toooo. I would looove a massage but then I think my last dregs of manic energy would collapse out from under me and then either I'd fall asleep on you or the past few days would finally catch up with me and I'm not sure I wanna subject you to either of those."

She should take off her shirt for better scratches.

...She should NOT do that thing. Maybe when she's known Sable for more than one whole day.

"That's okay. I'll carry you to your room if you fall asleep. Scratch my ears a bit?"

"Mmmmokay~"

Her hands gradually make their way up and wrap around Lenora's ears, scritching tenderly along the backs.

Oh no she's meeeelllltiiiinnggblargl.

After a bit she shivers all over, then sighs and relaxes more. 

"Youuu never know how tense you are until you're not. Massage attempt?"

She blushes and nods.

"Do you have muscles though? Hmm..." She stands and motions for Sable to lay on her front.

She attempts massage, having been taught the basics. Rhythmic rubbing up and down. Deeper kneading or small circles of constant pressure on especially tense spots. And make sure to let up if it hurts. Upper back, lower back, shoulders. It's about relaxing the muscles, loosening them up from their clenching and tension. Occasionally she breaks to scratch her ears or tail instead.

She seems to have something at least impersonating muscles tolerably, and carrying some amount of tension. And with some massage, she tenses, relaxes, says a garbled bit of gibberish, then sags into the kneading.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmm~"

Haaaaaa. It's nice to be good at something, and to make your friends feel better.

After a few minutes the massage is interrupted by a yawn, though. She stretches and sighs.

"I'm gonna go sleep. That was niiiice though. We're totally going to, like, headpat cuddle some more. Tomorrow."

Sable appears to have fallen asleep, and lets out a happy murmur, then tightens her tails around Lenora unconsciously.

Ah... Well, alright. She'll carefully carry Sable up to her room, whichever one she picked. She exercises, she's strong enough. (She'll have to keep that up, honestly...)

Up the stairs, bridal carry style... It's just the most comfortable way. And lay Sable down on top of the bed, and try again to gently pull away from the tails without waking her up.

Sable snuggles sleepily into Lenora's arms as she's carried, one tail going around her waist, one around her arm, third around the waist again from the other side. When Lenora sets her down, she mumbles "you're r'lly great" without quite waking up.

Awwwww.

Still. Tired. She is that. And she doesn't want to impose and creepily sleep next to Sable without even, like, having talked about that. Even if it's tempting. Geeently remove tails one at a time, and then she slips out and shuts the door and - does manage to leave a note that says 'we r asleep' for Abyssia, change into actual pajamas and crawl under covers before completely conking out, herself.

She tries to be quiet, putting the groceries away. Leaves a big 24oz bottle of Japanese ink someone recommended when she asked for good ink but balked on the price of magic ink - not covered by their student funds that they apparently have now - out by Sable's door. The sun has set by now, honestly, she doesn't have much to do besides pace for a bit and then try to sleep as well.

She wakes up, uncertain where she is. Looks quietly around. Sees her own animated hands.

She winces, gradually remembering everything. Wow she's a lot sometimes.

Nope, nope nope nope. Not doing that again.

And just like that, her archetype settles over her like a comforting cloak.

Sable grins, gets out of bed, then vanishes and resummons her Garment: black blouse with floral print, a pleated skirt, and flats, today. She opens her door, then stops in delighted surprise.

Oh this ink looks so good! She picks it up and skips down to the kitchen, wagging, then sets it on the table. Start coffee first, she figures, that way the other girls can have some when they get up.

She spends a few moments fiddling with the machine, gets it going, then finds the smallest glass she can — a shot glass, it turns out — and pours a little bit of ink into it.

She holds it up to her face, smells it, and siiighs in delight.

Then she takes a sip.

A grin steals over her face, and a delighted squeak slips out of her mouth. She wags uncontrollably.

Wow.

After a few moments just savoring that, she sets the glass back down and sets about getting out a pan, butter, eggs, and bread. With care and skill, she starts on an egg over easy, and pops two slices of bread into the toaster, ears alert for the sound of the coffeepot finishing, or anyone approaching.

Bys is first one down, having been awake already and exploring the house.

"There's a couple computers in the study rooms, turns out. I want to try a potion I looked up."

"Sounds like fun, Bys. Want a fried egg sandwich first?"

Sure enough, Sable is plating a sandwich as they speak.

"There's coffee, too, and I can fry a few sausages. Also, that ink you picked up is so good. Thank you."

"Glad I hit the mark on that. They had magic ink. Honestly, that can be the potion I try if you're going to cook for us..."

"I'm delighted to cook for y'all either way. If you make me magic ink, I will have to think of a better favor to show my gratitude through."

She tugs the fridge open with one of her tails as she sets the sandwich in front of Bys: it's lightly seasoned (by a New Orleans girl's standards at least), and has a light sprinkling of shredded cheese on top of the egg, between the buttered toast.

Then she whirls around, grinning, grabbing four sausages and two more eggs, starting on more breakfast. "At least two of those sausages have your name on 'em."

"I'm just trying to be friendly. Friends do things for each other... And it's a test anyway. Yum."

"Glad you like it! And same here, I just like doing nice things for people, especially friends. If that's how we're doing it, then I'd be delighted to taste-test your alchemical ink. And of course to keep cooking for any meal we manage to sync up for."

Sizzle, sizzle, flip, sizzle.

Lenora starts coming down about now.

"I managed to make my garment most of an outfit! That'll be handy. Good morning."

"Good job! And good morning! Want a fried egg sandwich with sausages? Or coffee?"

She'd take a look to see what outfit Lenora made, but she's cooking breakfast right now.

"Sounds delicious twice over. What's on the agenda for today? Has anyone actually looked at the class schedules? More shopping and settling in, maybe?"

"Not yet. Spent my morning being delighted at the ink Bys picked out, then cooking."

As she says that, she plates two sandwiches, puts two sausages on one plate and sets it in front of Lenora, then looks over at Bys. "You want another sandwich, or will sausages and coffee do you for now?"

She's wearing something quite like Harry Potter robes, with a blue undershirt and shorts and blue trim.

"Figuring out classes and then shopping for anything we need seems to be the only big things today."

"I'm good. It turns out we have a student fund for groceries. Only basic earth stuff though. It's automatic in the background, like everything here."

"Grocery fund sounds handy. And that sounds like a good agenda, Lenora. Bys was talking about trying an alchemy recipe at some point, and offered to try making magical ink. Which is very sweet of her."

She resists the urge to compliment the outfit, puts the two sausages on Bys's plate, pours coffee for everyone who wants it, and then digs into her own sandwich. Every so often she stops and takes a tiny sip from her shot glass of tasty ink.

"I think I'd like to try to get some studying in at some point today, too, and maybe we should make time to just all work through what abilities we have and what we can do with them."

"I saw a testing office on the map. We could go there and get lists of our natural talents."

"Good idea. Maybe that before course lists, since it'll possibly influence our decisions?"

"We can go right after breakfast!" Speaking of which, nom.

And she happily noms away as well, and tries her coffee as is, and tries adding her lovely new ink to it, then grins and pours the rest of her glass in. Before long all that's left is the coffee and she starts putting plates in the sink.

Before facepalming and summoning a maid hand, which promptly starts collecting all the dishes and washing up.

"Ooh, have any tips for using maid hand? All I did was unpack my stuff from the bed with it."

"You two seem better suited for most chores than me," Bys pipes up.

"From what I read, and the little experimenting I've done so far, it takes orders, can have preloaded orders when you make it, and the orders can have an ending time or condition."

"And if nothing else, Bys, you can help with household potions and the like. Be good practice, probably. I certainly don't mind divvying up all the grunt work between Lenora's and my maid hands. What counts is that everything gets done."

"I don't mind going shopping either. Maybe I've got a hoarding instinct. Shiny food, give please. Be right back, you keep eating I'm gonna go get instructions for some R1 ink."

"Okay!"

She blushes and grins and wags.

"That, um, petting yesterday was really nice."

She blushes brighter.

"It really was. Feels nice, good for us both, plus spending time with someone I'm really fond of? That sounds like a win on far too many counts not to make it a regular thing."

"And we'll be awake enough to properly appreciate it next time, too! Find the good in the weird. Plus it's nice to make others feel nice. Right~?"

Sable grins and nods, still blushing, and sips some more of her coffee.

Bys comes back just a bit later. "Looks like it takes about an hour to make what I was thinking of. So I'll try it after the testing office."

Sable nods, still blushing and grinning and sipping her inky coffee, waiting for Lenora to be finished eating so they can head off to the office, and unsure how much Lenora wants to advertise the fact that they have a cuddlepile planned for later.

Glugglugglug. Coffee vanishes in an instant. "Let's gooo."

"Sure. If you hate any of those cups by the way, I'll dispose of 'em."

Sable giggles, knocks back the rest of her coffee, then sets the mug in reach of the maid construct. "I'll keep that in mind and go through 'em later. I normally prefer to drink from a thermos-type thing anyway, keep my drinks hot longer."

She stands, tosses her purse over her shoulder.

"Ready."

Bys leads the way. A different exit to Scotia than the one they came in, this one leading to a town that looks straight out of the American fifties. Lots of smooth chrome and bright red and A-frame houses and occasional official looking buildings.

The Arcadia Testing Office is a two story office building full of potted plants and a big lobby. A thin man with glasses waves as they enter. "Ahh. I sense new students. Be welcome and come learn your fate and power."

Sable grins curiously and shoulder-bumps Lenora. "He's got a sense of drama, this is gonna be fun," she says quietly as they follow Bys inside.

"I recommend having your affinities and potential read privately even if you plan to discuss it later. Many consider your precise strengths, and potential rank, to be sensitive information. Knowledge is power! That said, if you agree to aptitude testing, I will be bound by compact not to reveal what I have learned. The secret will be yours alone. Arcadia funds the privilege of learning your rank, at least, and in exchange for telling you a bit more I would ask only the chance to introduce you to... A few opportunities. Nothing mandatory, nothing binding, on your end. Good fortune is something that the wise make for themselves, by taking opportunities."

Okay, how does this Sending thing work...

She twists a tiny little twist of mana, addresses it to Lenora and Bys, aaaand...

Networking is useful, and Arcadia seems to run on it, but the people he sends us to may or may not be advantageous. Meeting them probably can't hurt, especially if we do it on campus, but we probably shouldn't agree to any deals with them until we've researched things. I can help us with that at home.

Meanwhile, without missing a beat, she responds excitedly with, "Networking opportunities are pretty great! I'm game."

Bys twitches when the Sending hits, blinking. But Lenora manages to barely visibly react.

This one at least knows there's a game being played. Excellent.

"Excellent. I am Marin Volans, fourth-rank Diviner in the employ of the College at Arcadia. Right this way. As for your friends, please feel free to partake of the refreshments in the waiting room."

"Sounds great. It's good to meet you, Marin. I'm Sable." Then to her housemates, "Y'all don't mind if I go first, right?"

I'll fill you in before it's y'all's turns.

At the chorus of negatives, she follows Marin in.

He presents her with a short contract.

Marin Volans will cast Identify on (write name here), and discuss the results with (write name here), for free. His fee is paid by Arcadia. If Marin Volans intentionally or negligently reveals the information gained thusly except to Arcadia Senior Leadership (after a specific request), or in the case of detected Outsider contamination, he will be subject to a rank four Sickness curse, as well as a curse of young to old. Marin Volans will provide one or more potential opportunities relevant to aptitudes to (write name here). (Write name here) has no obligation, duty, conditions, restrictions, etc, etc, but is encouraged to at least think about said opportunities. 

She reads it carefully. "Doesn't specify that you'll be using the version of identify that gives more than just rank."

"Good catch. However, I will be. I can hardly point you to useful opportunities - and, of course, gain the reputational effects of that - without knowing your actual strengths."

She smirks. "I'll let you slide on the specific wording, then, since your argument makes decent sense."

She fills "Sable Carter" in on all the appropriate blanks, then signs at the bottom.

He signs as well.

"Identify."

"Your current rank is two, your potential is rank five. Congratulations, you are in the 99th percentile of witches. I've never personally met an Inkborn before, but as I thought your affinities are for Water and Mind. It'll affect what magics you can pick up most easily. The disciplines you have natural talent for are Runes, Alchemy, Portals, Mothergifts, and a somewhat unusual one - Aethernautics. Rank two in every one except Alchemy, which is rank one. That's a lot of power and a lot of variety for a fresh witch, congratulations again. Are you familiar with these already? What do you intend to pursue here at Arcadia, what sorts of things are exciting?"

Grinning curiously, Sable bounces on her feet and wags slowly while she takes that in — and tries to package up a memory from walking in through when he first casts.

Contract-and-casting.mem

He gives the full details. Discussing with him now. Interesting that he didn't specify the identify rank on the contract.

"Thank you! I'm loosely familiar with with those disciplines, but not as well as I'd like. Aethernautics makes sense to me, if it's what I think it is — I'm a traveler by nature, longing to go everywhere, meet everyone, and learn everything. Learning to instinctively locate myself seems very fitting for that. I know that if I get my skill with my Mothergifts a bit sharper I should be able to get a pocket dimension, which sounds absurdly useful. Other than that, I'm really leaning toward Runes and Portals to start. I'm fond of overpreparing, so enchanted stuff seems awesome, and as I've said I like travel."

She tilts her head and grins wider. "Honestly I'm gonna try to learn as much as I can of everything, though. Definitely picking up some elemental magics at some point, 'cause the world is spooky and sometimes people need to be blasted."

"A bit of an omnivore, hmm? I know the feeling. Magic is very exciting. You might enjoy a study group I know of, led by one Cassandra Trooper. They do a lot of 'field trips', mostly to see interesting sights or collect interesting ingredients. Or the English Arcadia Drama Club - I can introduce you to Valerie Conch, one of the organizers."

"Mhm! It really is. Those sound like interesting options, for sure. Tell me a little more about the Drama Club and why you suggested it?"

"You're inkborn- I trust it appeals on some level, whether for inclination or necessity. As for why drama instead of improv, writing, various fine art or animation clubs, theater- which is a separate club- various music and dance clubs- The drama club uses a lot of magic in their special effects, you'd be able to see all the options there. They write their own works and sell recordings too."

"Smart man," she says with a grin. "I like your reasoning. Where'd you hear about Inkborn, and what do you know about us?"

"The library. Nothing that can't be gotten from the right book, I think." He smiles slightly. "Finding the right books is such a chore, though."

"It can be, but patience and good friends help a lot."

She grabs one of her few good pens from her purse and writes the names down.

"I'd love an introduction, in both cases."

"I'm afraid the College won't let me introduce anyone to patience. Mind magic is rather closely regulated, you see."

Sable grins and laughs. "No, I suppose that simply wouldn't be allowed. Pity, because people could use the help. Even me sometimes."

She shakes her head, smirking. "Well, we'll just have to stay in touch for what introductions can be made, then. What are your focuses and interests aside from Divination, Marin, if you don't mind my asking? And what are your favorite aspects of Divination?"

"My favorite librarian is rather reclusive, alas. I use Divination for analysis. Augury is an amazing tool, that only grows more potent if you actively plan around it, and learn how to use it to make inferences. As for other magics, I have some skill with what is known as Psychotics, and its lesser-known sibling of Mentalism. Psychotics allows for arguably unreal constructs, illusions that slip right past most detections since they're in the mind, drawing the attention to and away from this and that, nonlethal disabling. Mentalism is an odd duck, a bit of portals, a bit of curses, some mind-affecting magics, and it all requires a sort of mental structuring that decays quickly and is completely independent of mana. Nicely versatile, though."

"Oh that sounds fascinating! Would you share an example?"

"One I was going to do anyway." He gestures at a coffee machine off to the side of the office. There's a stack of cups next to it.

With a slight twisting, crackling sound, and discharge of light, a cup is in front of him. Another instance of the same, and it's full of coffee.

"Skipgates, a fundamental spell of mentalism. Range, power, and precision increase with practice and rank, of course."

"Oooh! Oh that's delightful. Now I'm awfully tempted to add it to my to-do list."

Her tails swish back and forth delightedly.

"It is." A slightly realer smile. "As for other interests, I do like meeting people, and I enjoy business development as well. Maybe I'll end up teaching you mentalism at some point, as a College class. It's fairly rare. At any rate, here's the contact info for the groups I mentioned. I'm not sure if there's anything else?"

She takes down the info and tucks it away into her purse, then writes her own email address on a slip of paper and hands it to him. "Nope, I think that's everything. Thank you for your time, and feel free to keep in touch."

He puts away the contract and the paper slip and walks out of the office with her with a smile.

"Whenever you're ready, just knock." And goes back in.

As she steps back out into the main room, she batches a Sending at Lenora and Bys.

Didn't get any response from y'all when I last sent an update, so I figure the room is warded. Here's everything from my side.

Contract-and-Casting.mem

Offered-info.mem

I'm skipping the specific details of what he told me so as not to pressure y'all to share yours in return, though I certainly don't mind sharing afterward.

And she skips happily to the chairs and sits down between Lenora and Bys.

"Sending is weird. And it's obvious he knows we're Sending, so saying so isn't giving anything away."

She makes a face.

Seems harmless. We might even enjoy the clubs we're pointed at. Just remember that he's benefitting somehow. Maybe the 'field trips' make him money, for example.

"Why even are we Sending. Bys summed it up nice though."

"Because I'm a dork, and because it's a more efficient way to share whole memories?"

She giggles sheepishly.

"Agreed, though."

Bys waits a moment, then nods sharply and stands. "Me next, then."

"Welcome. I think you understand the give-and-take of relationships and exchanges like this. Everyone ends up better off."

"Sure. You're a professional, looking for some professional benefits. Let's see the contract."

He slides it over. She suspiciously examines it for loopholes, and finds none. She signs.

"It's also personally amusing to be mysterious and refined."

"Identify."

"...Congratulations, Abyssia," he says with a slight smirk. "You are currently rank two, with potential to reach rank five. You are in the 99th percentile of witches. Whoever your patron is - I have refrained from seeking that information - they've invested a good bit. A life of fortune awaits you if you play your cards right."

"Mmh. What would you want for a bit more info about how patron-witch relationships tend to go?"

"Let's get to that in a minute. First, your current invested abilities. Alchemy, rank two. Hexes, also rank two. Consortation-"

"-Consortation?!"

"-Also rank two. As well as Familiarity, the process of becoming closer to the familiar all witches can call. I suggest you summon yours when you get the chance. And finally, the first rank of Divination. What is so alarming about Consortation?"

"It's literally summoning demons from Hell, from the brochure I read. That is not really something I want to be involved with. Risky, distasteful."

"Consortation is not without risks, but there are benefits as well. Inherently it's a trade, something quite beautiful. I do regret that I am not suited for it, sometimes. But if you're morally opposed to advancing Hellish interests at all, ever, even in the minor ways that the lower ranks do, even though Hell is a complex plane with many and varied factions who seek different ends, perhaps it is not for you."

"I admit I don't actually know much about Hell. The reality, as opposed to the myth."

"Hell is a very unpleasant place. Even for the demons. I can recommend a book on the subject."

"Please do." She produces a pen and piece of paper from a pocket.

"A Close Look at the Hespatian Domain, by Helen Dromirus. It covers history, culture, and practicalities in approximately equal measure."

He waits for her to write it down.

"As for your other talents, is there anything you particularly want to learn?"

"I'm actually very fascinated by Alchemy. Being a witch, to me, is brewing potions in a nice cauldron. I'm hoping to learn that. Also, I think you're more likely than most to know a way I can find things to destroy that nobody will be too upset about."

"Ah, yes. The trouble of a Dravir trying to be civilized. I don't have a ready solution for you there, except perhaps arranging to inherit the excess products of classes, or, of course, monster hunting or bounty hunting. Unfortunately, a pacifist would make a poor Dravir."

"I'm not a pacifist. Are monsters much of a problem?"

"Not especially, but there's always a few, here and there. Your other option is simply to redeem Kisses for mana, as unappealing as that sounds. Rank three, which you should reach sooner more than later, is more than good enough to still make a profit that way."

"I'll think about it." Sigh. "So, your recommendations?"

He provides them. One introduction to a band of monster-spotters, one to a 'daemonology for fun and profit' club, and one to an Alchemy study group that meets irregularly.

"Hey, guys. Lenora's up next, last one."

I got a potions club and maybe some monster hunting group to look up later.

Interesting. Monster hunting seems like a useful angle on the destruction. I wanna know what enchantment prep they recommend, and I'll prioritize that in Runes.

She squeezes Lenora's shoulder gently and gives her an encouraging smile.

She matches the contract up against what Sable read. And signs it.

"Identify."

He chuckles slightly

"Oh, you're quite the powerful one, aren't you? An accident of magic, perhaps, but you're already at rank three, with the potential for five. A very high power level. A sorceress, as I think you've found out - with ranks in all four classical elements, though Earthmoving is the one that's strongest, possibly due to the Oread connection. You also have two ranks with potential for more in Witchery, the power of your mothergifts, and in Familiarity, the attunement to your familiar and to other animals. What is it you would seek from me?"

"I'm practically the frickin' Avatar, yeah. Honestly, I want money. I bet I can practice bending on my own, and other disciplines too. My friends might be after neat study groups or new friends or something, but money is power. Bit more literally with Witch Kisses too."

He smiles. Not a particularly nice smile. "Oh, are there ever opportunities, there. Three leap to my attention immediately. First, I have access to a genuine Kiss Minter, allowing the rapid exchange of mana into currency. With the high rate of charge you are capable of, that could be very profitable for you, even with the portion charged for its use. Second, renting your services as a sentient excavator. Construction demands a lot of moving earth. Dirt, gravel, foundation rocks. Something that require a lot of time and effort - for witches, that sometimes means animated mundane construction equipment, sometimes skeletons with shovels, and often times powerful elementalists, a class you have the privilege to belong to. Finally, Maid Hand. It is not such a rare talent, which drives down the price of services somewhat, but if you reach a minimal level of finesse you could earn money dispatching invisible constructs of force to do other peoples' chores, very low effort once you have a routine down."

She nods, considering. "And you'd get kickbacks from all three of those some way, some how, if you sent me jobs?"

"That is how business works, yes."

"Yeah, that's fair. I'll try it out, all three of those, and you get your cut or whatever."

"Excellent. Let's discuss the details."

"Hey guys."

I'm gonna go be a sentient excavator for one of Marin's buddies at some point. Earthmoving rank three. He's kind of annoying, but in a predictable sort of way.

Awesome. And see? I told you you were powerful. Already a three without even a drop of training.

And yeah, he's really mercenary, but that just means his agenda is obvious, which I find convenient.

"We should pick classes. So we'll know if we share any."

"Sure! Not right in front of this office though. Let's find a park or something. ...Not one of the hot springs."

Well, Sable will give that plan a happy nod and then bounce outside to consult a map and start walking in a direction that seems likely to produce a park. Along the way she'll shoulder-bump Lenora playfully. If this happens to bring her hand in convenient handholding distance for a short time, well that's entirely a coincidence, right?

For whatever reason, Lenora does not hold her hand at this time!

A pattern becomes apparent: Several people they pass spot the two mimis and smile or turn to say something, then spot the Dravir following shortly after and... Think better of it.

Typical. Maybe she should just... Leave the pair to it. They obviously go well together, and she's ruining the fun.

One stereotypically Caucasion witch - actinic bright eyes, golden blonde hair - who seems to have an even more superheroine build than the standard here, too perfect and too much, starts following along, lazily floating on her broom. "Heyyyy, new students? Y'all feel like new students. I wanna fight you, hon," she says with a nod to Bys. "If you're up for it, if you think you're tough." Grin.

"Don't - hah - don't bait the newbies, Kay," insists a tanned witch running up behind her. "You don't have to fight her. Kay here is a several-time winner of Elementalism Duels."

If anyone were to ask Sable's opinion about Bys's idea, she'd insist that it was only an acceptable plan if Bys had something she actually preferred doing rather than simply shame-based nonsense. But no one is asking her these things. She might have noticed a few scowls in response to the cowards, but all she's done about that is playfully bump Bys at one point on the walk.

As far as the offered spar, she says, "If either of my friends feel like you'd be fun to spar with, watching sounds like fun to me. S'up to them, though."

"I'm really new to all this, I'd be terrible at it. I didn't even really do martial arts or anything."

"...Kinda tempted. It'd be nice and straightforward, clarify things. If you can provide stuff to break afterwards, at least."

"Ooh, yes! There's an arena down the way! They use variant digicasting wards, so even if we go wild it's actually safe. Phantom pain, phantom damage. I dunno if false matter counts for you, but I know plants do and my garden could use some being completely torn up, if that'll do."

"That sounds like me weeding your garden for you, for free."

"Kay-" The friend starts, annoyed. 

Kay just laughs. "Good point, I'll pay you for it. Kay Feldspar, at your service."

"I guess we're not relaxing in the park, then?" Lenora says to nobody in particular.

Oh no. She wants Bys to get to have a fun spar, but she wants to hang out at the park with Lenora, and they need to pick out their classes, what do!

"Shit. Now I'm kinda torn. I wanna see what combat's like, but I was really kinda looking forward to flopping in the park together and picking out classes."

She hums. "Bys, what if Lenora and I go find a park, and then you meet us there and share the memory of your spar after? I'm kinda trying to have my cake and eat it too, here, but..."

She gives the other girl a simultaneously sheepish and hopeful look.

"We're roommates. Housemates. Not joined at the hip. I'm fine with that?"

"Sorry, I don't mean to snipe."

"Don't think you're sniping. Felt t'me like remindin' me of plans we'd already made and helping me rein in the manic distractions. Those're fun, but I try to be a little more deliberate than that?"

She gives Lenora a sheepish grin. "So how 'bout we go find us a park?"

Thanks, Bys. Send me when you're done with the spar and I'll toss you the location?

"I think I saw one up on the right. With a nearby hot spring of course. I'm gonna need to go swimming sooner or later."

"Ooh, awesome. Lead the way, Lenora!"

She bounces and wags and follows.

"Well that was cute," Kay says, watching the pair of Mimis walk off.

"Now let's head to the arena and see what you're made of, newbie."

"Just keep in mind the only thing I've fought is a bear."

"Then it's a learning experience!"

And she zips along arenaward on her broom.

She sighs and jogs after Kay and Bys.

The arena is interesting. It's more like a boxing rink than some big gladiatorial thing that she was imagining. But it's a very big boxing rink, and the other one in use has a series of shallow pools and a few thin trees. There's also a small set of bleachers and, like, some mystical-looking objects that are probably magic.

"Cool. How does this place work? Digicasting?"

"Yep! Uses Digicasting to mock a bunch of the arena and the damage to the fighters, keeps everybody safe!"

Kay's friend catches up, panting. "If you're going to bait the newbie, at least don't confuse her too."

She catches her breath for a moment. "It's an arena-wide enchantment, capable of converting anything up to rank three into a simulation, which can then be automatically dismissed at the boundary of the arena, and can have simulated effects on linked fighters. Essentially the result is that no one has to pull their metaphorical punches, but the fighters still get to feel the full effect of casting and being hit."

"Mighty convenient. I was wondering if I'd have to wear boxing gloves or something. It's gonna be a... Real, serious fight, then. What about artifacts? Patron gave me some."

"It works based on the power and complexity of the produced effect. Any magical effect, whether generated from an artifact or a spell, with a power greater than a third rank casting, cannot be safely mocked. Defensive artifacts are safe, as is purely physical damage up to twenty million Newtons of force, or temperatures up to 500°F. There is a testing area for rating attacks."

She points to a gated area behind the bleachers.

Okay, so. The orb that is apparently her Rod is fine. It's pretty defensive. The hammer... Who knows. She heads for the gate.

"Any ground rules? Anything else to talk about? Im probably going to get my butt kicked but at least it's letting loose."

She turns to Kay.

"Go as hard as you can. I can take it, and I wanna see what you've got to work with."

The gate opens as Bys approaches, revealing several target markers clustered at one end of the area (at different angles to allow different directions of strike to be tested), and two silver plates on one fence toward the side. One bears a raised sigil that looks like an eye with a line through it, while the other bears a clear crystal.

"Hit the sigil to hide the testing area from view if you wanna keep your surprises, and then the crystal will light up green or red for accepted or rejected attacks."

"Got it down to a neat system, huh. Okay, let's see."

She walks in and hits the eye sigil. She doesn't really have any surprises, hasn't even figured out her familiar yet, but... Actually, maybe she does.

She practices drawing out her hammer and releasing it several times. Does the target marker accept it when she gives a solid whack? How fast can she summon and dismiss? The hammer is weightless in her hand, but impacts knock her back hard. She plays around with this a bit. Trying to figure out some sort of style.

Same thing with her dragonbeast transformation. Is it fast or slow? Can she transform quickly enough to use it for mobility? Can she transform into a different position to dodge or is it more like Animorphs?  

She doesn't have any potions and can't think of clever uses for hexes. Doesn't know how to do them. Doesn't have her familiar, yet. Isn't going to summon a demon to help with a spar, or maybe ever. She can... Identify? It's intuitive enough.

"Identify," she tries on one of the target markers.

A heavy strike from her hammer gets a green light on the indicator crystal. She can get summoning the hammer down to maybe half a second, maybe most of a second for the transformation, and can't use the transformation to dodge.

She proceeds through to the arena with her computation orb visible, but not the hammer. No broom, she can run faster than it. Yes garment, a long flows robe that will recover in time if when it gets shredded here. No hat.

She finds Kay wrapped in gleaming metal armor, looking like gold-tinted steel, and bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Ready to play, Bys?"

"Mmmyep. To yield or inability to yield?" She clenches her hands and fidgets slightly. She's getting fired up...

"You got it. Count us in, Phoebe?"

"Three, two, one, GO!"

Kay explodes into motion, springing backward and tossing a handful of steel balls into the air. She launches them forward at Bys like shots from a rifle, and sweeps her left hand at the ground.

Charge. Don't dodge just charge. The computation orb can take a couple hits at a time, a blaring noise and grid of light appearing as the attacks are deflected.

Shit, she needs to overwhelm that shield if she's going to stop this girl. She completes the hand-sweep, hauling a wave of water up to wash Bys from her feet, then pulls out two handfuls of bullets, readying them to launch.

She reacts without thinking, starting the transformation to a longer, tougher dragonbeast form and trying to push through the water that way.

The wave batters at her shield, keeping the pressure up, and then a shotgun blast of twenty steel bullets burst across the distance in an earsplitting crack.

The shield catches the first two and slows down the next two.

The rest batter her hard. The dragonbeast form is tough, yes. But not enough to just ignore that. They crack scales and dig into joints and one takes a chunk off her horn.

It hurts. A lot. She screams/roars.

It's really hard to keep a clear head through disorientation and pain. So it takes her a moment, but she's through the wave now, mostly, and uses a cone of ice in Kay's general direction and then tries to go with her original plan of summoning the hammer for a surprising blow - detransforming at the same time, she's at least gotten decent at thst.

Kay charges forward, bulling through the ice and counting for her Garment-turned-gambeson to insulate her from the freezing chill building up on the plates of her armor. She lunges into a powerful uppercut, enhancing the blow with her Metallurgy, not quite noticing the materializing hammer through the cloud of ice crashing over her.

This giant hammer is weightless in her hands. She swings with all her strength anyway. Down. From overhead.

The armored fist that still hits just after her own blow knocks her back again, and hurts more, and shes getting pretty pissed off, and her hammer is falling to the ground with an enormous thud a few feet away.

The hammer rings Kay like a bell, clanging through her helm and only barely not concussing her. She only manages to keep the uppercut on track through momentum and magically puppeting her gauntlet.

She stumbles backward, not sure if the ringing is in her ears or from her helmet. She sweeps her left hand up her right arm, levels it at the draconic girl. Six steel spikes form in her upraised palm, the steel of her gauntlet peeling up and reforging into ammunition. It sweeps in an arc, left to right, as the spikes launch — elbow-bicep-shoulder-shoulder-bicep-elbow. 

She-

She- Lunges forward with all her strength despite the pain. The frustration and pointlessness and throwing her life away for fucking magic drives her to furious half-insane action, advancing and spitting ice despite the accumulating damage.

Damn, this girl doesn't quit. Kay dives to the side into a roll. She sweeps her hands as she springs back up, pulling an enormous wave to bash into Bys from behind.

She gets caught up in the wave and flung. Tries to stand up again but it's not happening. The anger of a few moments ago feels ... Tired now.

"Yield. Yield! Ugh." And she starts coughing.

Kay slumps, then starts laughing as she walks over to Bys.

Phoebe gestures sharply, and the arena resets, water vanishing back into the pond, Kay's armor resetting to its original condition, and Bys's injuries disappearing.

Kay holds out a hand to Bys to help her up.

"Girl, that's the best fight I've ever had from a newbie," she says as her cackling dies down. "That was better than some people I fought in the last tourney."

"Haaaaah. Still lost. I swear I had a really cool line but I can't remember it." She groans and, eventually, accepts the help and stands up. "That was intense."

"Yeah, it was. That was a hell of a hit with your hammer. I'm impressed. And good job summoning it behind the cover of your ice breath. Caught me off guard there."

"She shouldn't have been able to surprise you with that, Kay," Phoebe says as she floats down from the stands on her broom. "I've told you to be more careful."

"Yeah, yeah. You're right, Phoebs." She kisses the other girl on the cheek when she gets close enough.

Phoebe blushes shyly, then says, "Seriously well done, though, newbie. Usually nobody gives Kay a good fight before they've been here at least a whole cycle."

"I'm glad. Maybe I have the instinct for it. Dravir and all. I have no idea how any of this works, though... I mean. I know bits and pieces by now but it feels like a whole 'nother world. Because it is."

"You'll get there." She dismisses her armor and turns her Garment back into a bikini top and a red skirt, then conjures her Hat and reaches in for a few sports drinks, tossing one to Phoebe before offering another to Bys. "What would you do different, looking back on this fight?"

She glances to the side, and then down at her own clothes. Oh good, still perfectly intact. She's visibly relieved.

"Practice. I want to get my everything faster and surer. I was panicking and just, raging, for much of that. Hammer covered by ice breath was the only planned part." 

Speaking of which, she walks over and picks it up, then lets it flow back into her... Soul, she supposes. 

"That's a good start. You also need to learn a good blocking and deflection technique. What are your strongest magics?"

She frowns. "...Alchemy."

"Oh, that's going to be interesting to make combat-ready, but it's been done. Look into smokebombs, teargas, knockout gas, aerosolized confusion, and that sorta thing. What's your second?"

"I'm not really sure on the etiquette of sharing this sort of information when it's not sort of obvious, with the metal and the water."

"It's generally polite to match people's shares, especially when they're giving you free advice, but it's totally okay to be cagey too. I just can't give you advice about specialties I don't know you have."

A solemn nod. "Hexes. And I think my familiar will be strong. But I'm new to all this. Do you mind if I stretch, try to - calm down, I guess?"

"Hexes and a familiar can both be really combat relevant, easily. And go right ahead!"

Phoebe pokes Kay in the cheek. "You should be stretching too, missy."

"Okay, okay, you're right."

She takes another sip of her drink and starts stretching, shifting her Garment to yoga pants and a stretchy workout top. She drops into a split, then bends over to each side for a toe-touch, holding it for about a minute on each side.

Changing your clothes around in an instant sure is handy. She's still wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

Bys's stretching is much less practiced. She's probably not even doing it with proper form. Mostly she does quick stretches, arm and shoulder stretches, trying to shake off the odd feeling that was intense pain a minute ago.

"I do seem to be built for combat. Kind of wish I was just neutral, but also not. Like I said, that was intense. I'd like to spar again some time."

"That sounds like fun," Kay says as she leans into some twists. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with next."

She wraps over into a back-bend.

Phoebe blushes and bites her lip, then shakes her head and sips more of her powerade.

"You're very flexible."

How is that not breaking something? Can she stretch further with the whole dragon thing? She stretches further. She thinks so, used to be she could barely touch her toes but now her head can go below her knees, almost to the floor.

Her horns hit the ground and she winces, then straightens back up.

"...I need to go to a gym later and try things. I've been on the run until I got to Arcadia." Sigh. "But for now I'd better go find my fr- Roommates. We were going to plan classes."

"Thank you! Have fun!"

She twists herself into different pretzeled shape, then adds, "Oh, Phoebe, give her my email before she goes, pleeease?"

Phoebe rolls her eyes and passes Bys a card, still blushing when she looks at Kay.

"Thank you. Sorry if it's boring watching us beat each other up."

She'll head out and ... Reach for Sable with Sending after that, then.

Meanwhile, Sable and Lenora have been strolling parkward.

"What was the most interesting thing you learned in there, y'think?"

"That I'm basically Aang?" She snickers. "Apparently Earthmoving is really useful for construction and that could pay a lot, that's pretty interesting actually."

"Hah. You're too pretty to be Aang. You're Korra, or maybe some future Avatar that starts as an Earthbender."

She giggles and shakes her head. "Really cool about the excavation work, though. I got a tip for field trips, which could be neat, but less profitable. Should've asked him about who to talk to about getting paid for enchanting. Oh well, I'll email him."

"You don't really come across as someone interested in cash money? But I actually told him I was, so... Ooh, there's the park."

It has a nice set of flower beds, bushes, and trees, with gravel pathways and fancy benches and, of course, a small hot spring spilling forth mist at one end where a trio of witches are lounging.

Her eyes spill across the scene, take in the lounging witches, gaze off into the distance for a bit, then lock back onto Lenora's face.

"Honestly... Honestly I'm really not. I really kinda hate money, but the world keeps insisting on using it as the grease that keeps the whole machine going, so I kinda have to put up with it anyway, y'know? I'm hopeful that I can get by on mania and favor trading for the most part, but I'm gonna need to have at least some money."

"Favors and community are definitely a really big deal. I just - don't really have the energy to go making tons of friends quite yet. Money comes and goes and you always need it, but friends stay." Sigh.

"Thankfully energy's something I've always got plenty of — even more since I Awakened and got my archetype. I don't mind doing the favor trading and friend hunting for both of us, if that would help."

She savors the park, gazing about while they walk — and keeps an eye out for some benches or even a hot spring — ideally an empty one, though.

"Archetype?"

Over there is a really little miniature hot spring with a small bench nearby, with a naturalistic looking stone edge and handrail and a bush half obscuring it from the path.

That'll do nicely. She strolls over, turning her Garment into a dark purple bikini with a hole for her tails as she goes. She sets her purse on the ledge and sinks in with a happy sigh.

"Inkborn are tropes as much as we are people. Each of us apparently becomes the embodiment of some fictional archetype when we Awaken, and that skews everything about us. It's always something related to who we already were, I think? Sort of a 'make you more of what you already are' kinda thing."

Huh.

She blushes slightly. "I see, I think. What if it's - taken? Hold on, I need a minute to change mine..."

"I think there are few enough of us that it mostly doesn't happen, and we wind up adjusting to something else that fits close enough and isn't taken if it can't be helped?"

She hums thoughtfully. "There's a lot of unclaimed territory in archetype space, feels like."

She nods, but focuses on her Mothergifts, eventually changing her garment into a blue one-piece with vague wave patterning.

She tests the water's temperature with her tail tip, then slowly sinks in, oddly shaped feet first.

"At least this is still nice. Hot tub. Feels weird to try to take it easy."

Sable nods and sighs contentedly. And that flush is definitely just from the hot water, it doesn't have anything to do with the pretty housemate she certainly doesn't have a crush on wearing a swimsuit. Nope.

"Yeah. Slowing down isn't always very easy for me. Harder than it used to be, even. It's worth it, though. There's a saying: Rest is a weapon. We gotta take care of ourselves before we can go to war against the bigger problems. That was always a struggle for me, honestly."

"If you've got time to lean you've got time to clean, I got told."

...She experimentally pulls one hand out of the water and glares at it. The moisture collects at her fingertips and she flicks it away.

Nodding decisively, she dunks her whole head underwater in the smallish pool, splashing, and holds it there for a few seconds. Before coming back up flushed and squinting.

"Ahhh! Damn. I need to go like... Find someone who's attracted to mimis and blow off some steam."

Nope, that blush is not disguisable as hot-spring-induced, Sable's definitely blushing.

"Um. And if I said you'd already found one?"

"Oh? Oh!"

She feels warmth blossom inside her, embarrassment and excitement.

...In the space between heartbeats she has an Idea. Trying to keep a relatively straight face she says,

"You don't mean... Abyssia?"

"No, I do not have any reason to suspect Abyssia of an enormous crush on you."

She nods and blushes more. "...'S a joke. Sorry. Um." She pouts, thinking. "Well I should tell you, my old friends were... Really casual about, um, that stuff? In case that bothers you or anything."

She grins sheepishly, still blushing. "S'okay, I don't mind casual. Doubt 'm gonna start liking you any less anytime soon, mind, but 'm also pretty sure I'm not fully compatible with monoamory in the first place, so casual works."

"Heeeeee I should probably come over there and kiss you. You're so - cheerful and fun to be near. Still though, I meant, uh, we were kind of all fucking. And I'd want to get to that sooner more than later, with you."

"I did rather suspect you meant that," she says with a giggle and a grin. And then her tails dart forward and scoop 'round Lenora from behind, pulling her into Sable's lap. "And if you're gonna keep brandishing that dangerously pretty smile at me and talking about kissing and fucking then I'm gonna take you up on it."

And she leans in, pressing her lips to Lenora's in a sweet kiss.

Heee. A kiss! She presses hard into the kiss and brings her arms up to hug Sable tightly. After the kiss breaks,

"As long as you're aware! Nice move. I'm just imagining what those tails can do in bed. My tail too if I can control it for that matter..."

Mmmm, kiss~

"Hee, glad you like it. And I bet you can! With mine, I'm pretty sure I can do..."

One tail wraps around each of Lenora's ankles, and the third tightens around her waist.

"That~."

She squirms slightly. "Yeah, that could be fun." Quick peck of a kiss. On the lips, then on her neck. "Proooobably we shouldn't get too worked up right now though. Don't want to abandon Bys. Just kissing."

Ooh, neck kiss gets a little wriggle, and she squeezes Lenora a little tighter.

"Mmmhm~, just two smol hotties kissing in a hot spring while they wait for their housemate to be done sparring."

She leans forward and pecks a trail of tiny kisses along her cheek and jaw.

Mmmmmmh. It's going to be annoying to cool off when Bys shows up. But that's a problem for Future Lenora.

She kisses back. And lets her hands wander and trace nice little paths too. It's not like they're wearing a whole lot...

At least they'll have the the delay of however long it takes for Bys to find them. And oooh, no they aren't. Her hands roam from Lenora's back, down to her waist, then one cups her ass and the other tangles up in her hair. Mmmmmm~~

Still being in the hot spring makes making out a new and different experience.

She moves to displace Sable's bikini top and start fondling and licking at her boobs, panting and making small happy moans.