"I have not. I don't naively know how to do one without electricity, and I'm sure someone could artifice one up, somehow, but that sounds like a huge waste of time and effort that could be used making something that'll save someone's life." 

"Well, if you'd like me to tell them that I've never had your knickers off I can do that but I would like to wait till I am less likely to need your spillover aura to get through the day."

"I mean, I still like you, I didn't pick this table randomly, I bet you can get spillover aura without knickers being involved." 

"I'm not so sure of that, myself! The generous milk-distributor in the lunch line was from Manchester, if people are looking to poach you they aren't going to reckon you'll flip to them because of my sparkling wit and not my, I don't even know, unspecified siren charms."

"Oh." Snort. "That's...I dunno. Cute, almost." 

"Is it really. I suppose, like a fluffy little bunny, it has some culinary value." She slams back her milk.

"It's really interesting, how determined people are to fit me into a little box in their head shaped how they think I ought to be. Who sees the crazy lady running around killing mals as hard as she can and goes, 'ah, yes, I bet she'll settle right down to enclave gate guard duty when she graduates,' I wonder."

"What is it you want to do, then?"

"I'm going to run around the world killing the biggest things I can hunt down, and anything else I find along the way, before it can get in to the Scholomance at all. Or, like, before it kills more indie kids than it probably already has."

"Well, you'd be a feather in a cap even like so, or maybe they imagine you'll change your tune after you graduate."

"My dad can have as much of my consequence as he likes for being Dominus with as long as he doesn't get in my way. But, like, actively going somewhere else, that would involve making some kind of actual commitment, probably, possibly unless I took my mom with me when I left and had a really big public falling-out with New York."

El starts to shrug, thinks better of such reckless exercise, and finishes her food.

"You're Aadhya, right," it would be rude to completely ignore her, "El tells me you're on the shortlist of people who tolerate her without the bonus chance to get closer to me." 

"That's me, nice to more properly meet you!"

"Do you know why people don't like her?"

Aadhya considers this, starts to say something, looks at El, frowns, and finally says, "She feels like it's going to rain."

"I what?"

Aadhya is pleased with her analogy! "Like, you know the feeling when you've gotten miles from home and you're on foot in your nice shoes, and it was sunny when you left, not a cloud in the sky, but now you look up and it's overcast and it smells wet and any second now it's about to rain cats and dogs. When you show up that's what it feels like! And I can swap a screwdriver for a few snack tokens with a rainstorm but I guess most people can't."

"This is ridiculous."

"If you cheat a little too much it can mess up your vibe, a spirit cleanse might -"

"I never cheat!"

"- really?"

Glower.

"She's strict mana. Not even the littlest nibbles out of her headboard."

"...good for... you?"