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their secret longing
Salmons and Silvers in Dreamshard
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The bell rings.

For someone with so much free time he feels like he is always late to things. The school map isn't really that useful, so he asks someone.

"Hi? I am looking for Ms. Smith's class?"

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"Oh, hi! I'm going to that, you could come with. New around here?"

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Smile. "Just transferred. My name is Arthur Jameson." He offers her a hand.

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She shakes it. "Adedayo Iroko, but you can call me Dayo. Classes started a month ago, where'd you come from?"

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"Hello, Dayo. New York. Moved here with my uncle, the timing wasn't right to move before classes."

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"Huh. What's New York like?"

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"Normal? I think people exaggerate how scary the big city is. Are you a Florida native?"

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"Yeah, although I moved around a bit when I was a kid."

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"Ah, same. So, uh, do you like the school?"

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"It's definitely better than most I attended when I was a kid. People are nice, the classes aren't terrible, lots of teachers let me study other stuff in class."

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"You do that often?"

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"Yeah, class is boring."

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"Gosh, I'm soon going to feel at home in this school."

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"Are you?"

And here they are, Ms. Smith's geometry class.

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He smiles and nods. He introduces himself to the teacher.

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The teacher welcomes him and tells him to find someone to sit with.

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Which just so happens to be next to Dayo.

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Funny how that works.

It's only been a month, there isn't a lot of new content to catch up on, and presumably Arthur wasn't idling along during this time so he should be fine. And if he's not, Dayo's actually pretty good at math.

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Arthur is pretty good at math too!

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Then they won't have any problems!

Their next class is AP Calc, which they apparently have together as well.

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Great. Then they can walk together there. "Do you have many friends here?"

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"Ehhh. I have one close friend but I'm friendly enough with everyone else. How about you, do you miss people from NY?"

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"Ah, maybe a few, but my two closest friends had already moved away last year."

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Sore subject, okay.

"Jessica doesn't like math very much but we'll see her at lunch."

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Nod. "What sorts of things do you like?"

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"Math, science, psych, econ, all the nerdy stuff. I'm terrible at languages, though."

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"Oh, I don't have psych. What is it like?"

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"It's fun, one of my favorite classes, most of the time. When they don't slip into Freudian stuff, anyway."

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"What is the problem with Freudian stuff?"

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"It's false!"

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"Are they at least teaching it for... historical reasons?"

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"The evidence is inconclusive."

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"The joys of public education."

They have class. And later they have lunch.

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And a girl strides over to their table after they've sat. "You won't believe—oh hi who are you?"

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"Arthur, this is Jessica. Jessica, this is Arthur, new student."

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"Hi. I'm in fact Arthur. What won't Dayo believe?"

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"Oh, right—they rediscovered a pocket dimension!"

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"No way! Which?"

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"The one in Edinburgh."

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"So cool. I think I know which one that is, but I barely remember reading about it in the Moore Worlds' Atlas."

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"I kinda have them all memorized," she says sheepishly.

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"Because she is a nerd," Jessica helpfully explains, before munching down on her lunch.

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Arthur chuckles. "Which one did you memorize? The book or the cartoon?"

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"No, I meant I memorized the locations and descriptions of all extant pocket dimensions."

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"Wow, that is more magic nerdery than I thought."

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"Told ya."

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She giggles.

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Arthur smiles at Dayo then asks, "What does the one in Edinburgh do?"

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"It's night all the time. People in there can sort of 'reach' for a star and take it, and it becomes a glowing glass bead that can be melted into glowing glass."

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"Oooh, cool one. I wonder if they are going to use it for tourism or for industry."

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"Bit o' both I expect, after they milk it for pretty things."

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"Oh, I can just see the souvenirs. Non-magical glass beads with glow in the dark paint. T-shirts with sayings like 'party all night when the night never ends.' That sort of thing."

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"Exactly! Sometimes I wish I'd run into a pocket dimension and become rich off it."

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"Don't we all. At least get first dibs on whatever magic one finds there. What would you do with that sort of money?"

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"Donate half of it to charity and use the other half to become even richer and do that again. Rinse and repeat."

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"That is the best answer."

(He might be blushing a little.)

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"Should I leave you alone or find you a room?"

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"W-what?" Arthur splutters.

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"I haven't even started flirting with him, Jessica."

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"Oh, okay, tell me when you do."

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"Wait, not yet?" he blurts out.

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"Ah, I sense interest."

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She just eats her food, smiling in silence.

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"So... uh. Would you like to go see a movie?"

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"Why I'd be delighted."

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"Must be a record of some sort."

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"I'd appreciate it if you dropped the commentary, Jessica."

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"Great!" Pause. "I actually have no idea what movies are on."

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"Me neither, but how about Friday at seven?"

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"Sure thing."

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"—oh but also, there's this thing—I'm genderfluid, sometimes I'm a boy, how much of an effort should I make to be a girl on Friday?"

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"Uh... that is actually not a concern."

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"Should I just go find another table? I can go find another table."

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"I don't know." He is grinning at Dayo.

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"I'll find another table," she says, rolling her eyes and taking her food.

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Dayo laughs.

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He looks at her admiringly then he blinks. "Uh, so what sort of movie do you like?"

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"Pretty eclectic, actually, you can pick."

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"Alright. My taste is pretty eclectic too, with some preference for sci-fi. I am used to late night television."

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She tuts. "Not good for a boy in his growth phase. Although if you grow any more you might hit the ceiling."

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"Gosh, shopping for clothes and shoes would be even harder."

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"I can imagine. What's your shoe size?"

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"Eleven. Why?"

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"Oh, just curious."

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He gets it then snorts.

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"I didn't say anything."

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"Yet you communicated loudly."

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"Oh shut up."

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He smiles and takes a bite out of his food.

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"I didn't mean it literally! What would you do if you found a pocket dimension and got super rich?"

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"Same thing as you. Invest and donate. Might research beforehand in case there is a better way to optimize than just a 50/50 split. Unless you meant if it was one of the cases where they let you keep the dimension- I'm actually not sure if that law applies to Florida."

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"I didn't mean literally half, but I don't have a number in my head, never having run into an undiscovered pocket dimension to need to make this decision."

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"Fair enough. I still greatly appreciate the answer... I don't think most people think ahead well enough to answer that much."

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"Well I'm flattered but it doesn't take that much thinking, it's just—what else would I do with lots of money? Yachts are boring, books aren't that expensive, I don't need that much living space, there are lots and lots of people who need it more than me."

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"Most people are either 'get as much living space possible' or 'donate all to charity' in my experience. But yeah, that is what I am thinking. I would at most have a nice penthouse somewhere near my workplace and be done with it. Maybe rent a yacht if I ever felt a burning need for one."

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"Don't really get the appeal," she shrugs. "Of yachts, that is. And they're very fuel-inefficient."

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Giggles. "Me neither, but maybe having too much money makes you suddenly more attracted to pollution."

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"Suppose I could purchase carbon credits. But nah. Anyway, other than being adorably enamored with displays of altruism what do you do in your spare time?"

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"A lot of reading and exercising mostly. And watching bad late night television when I can't sleep. You?"

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"A lot of reading, a lot of going out, studying things, meeting people. I'm not much of a TV person."

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"Yeah, I must say my TV preferences are definitely an acquired taste."

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"You have trouble sleeping often?"

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"Kinda, it doesn't affect me or anything, but it is not unusual for me to be up at random hours every other night."

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"Huh. Do you know why?"

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"Haven't found a doctor that knows the answer. And it's not really a big deal, I think my body just got used to it."

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"Huh. Alright. I don't have a very adversarial relationship with sleep, if I sleep a reasonable amount of hours every night I'm fine. Jessica, though, sleeps in a lot."

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"Happens with the best of us. Have you been friends for a long time?"

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"Yeah, since I moved here a few years ago. She's my best friend."

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Nod. "What is the... social scene in the school like?"

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"It's very unlike TV shows! I mean there's groups like jocks and cheerleaders and popular people and all that but people are generally very friendly and it's more just, groups of friends that share an interest rather than a social hierarchy?"

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"Gosh, are you telling me that you don't have a pack of three or four cheerleaders led by a blonde that acts like she owns the school?"

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"We don't! Shame, I know, we tried to hire one but the economy, you know."

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"Gosh, it's like hearing that the American dream has died."

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"Ah, yes, the American dream: bullies and cliques."

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"They are American like baseball and apple pie."

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"Truly a loss to us all."

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Solemn nod. Ruined by laughter.

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She giggles, too.

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Lunch ends, they proceed to their respective afternoon classes.

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Dayo has Spanish. Because she needed to pick a language and that was the simplest.

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They have Government. Someone brings up the rediscovered pocket dimension and there is a short discussion on how they decide magic related laws, which the teacher cuts short to not veer off-topic.

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After that Dayo has econ!

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So does he!

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"Fancy meeting you here."

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"Same. Come here often?"

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"Few times a week. You?"

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"Just started."

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"Hopefully I'll see you around more, then."

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"Let's see!"

What is econ class like?

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It's interesting! Ish! It's still high school but as high school lessons go it's pretty cool.

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Good. Can't have bad econ classes.

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Well, they could, but.

And then they're free for the rest of the day.

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"I was going to take a look at extra-curricular activities," he tells Dayo. "Are you in any?"

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"Track, although being as tall as you are probably counts as cheating."

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Snort. "Cheating is what losers call an advantage they didn't have. At any rate, I generally prefer practicing sports on my own."

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"What sorts of sports do you like?"

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"Are you still flirting?" asks Jessica, walking up to them.

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"I am not really into interactive sports. Generally, running or swimming, mostly stuff that I could do on my own when I suddenly have free time in my hands."

"We are just talking," he tells Jessica.

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"Believe it or not, we are," she confirms. "Track's only competitive, not cooperative, so you could do that. Or something other than sports I guess."

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He thinks - it looks like an oddly weighted decision. "You know what? There is no harm in trying out for the track team."

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She beams. "Awesome."

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He beams right back. "Now, how do we sign up for tryouts?"

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"—well, tryouts were two weeks ago but I guess you talk to the team captain?"

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"Huh, fair enough."

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"I can introduce you."

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"If you don't mind."

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"Okay, we have practice tomorrow, I can bring you with me."

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"Great! I probably should take a look at the other various clubs as well."

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"Yeah, sounds like a good idea."

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Well, is there some announcement board or place where he can see the school's various clubs?

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There's an announcement board with some of them but not all of them can be found there.

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He can ask around. Some people are likely in more than one club.

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This is true, they are! They have a few clubs: various sports, cheerleading (not sexist! the fact that it's only girls is incidental, he can totally apply!), A/V, chess, there's even a glee club.

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He is not really good at chess. And he doesn't feel motivated by anything else. He wonders if everyone hates the glee club. Well, he kinda wants to try something. Do they have a swimming team?

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Yep!

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Well, he can see about trying out for that one too. Enjoy the fact that they are in sunny Florida and everything.

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That is indeed a thing he can do!

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Alright then, he manages talk to with the swim captain and they schedule something.

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Their practices are on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, usually, and sometimes Saturdays.

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Sure thing, but he is going to check the track team first before actually picking one of them. He goes home and tells his uncle about his day, and digs out his swimming trunks from where they are packed.

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And tomorrow there's school again!

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As school does most days! Presumably Dayo is there?

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Well, Jessica is.

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And there's a boy with her.

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He waves at Jessica. "Hi, how are you, Jessica? And who is your friend?"

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"I'm alright! How're you?"

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"You have three chances to get it right."

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"I'm fine?" He tells Jessica and to Dayo he says, "what?"

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"Was that one guess?"

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Blink. "Dayo?"

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"The very same."

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"Woah, you fooled me completely."

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"Magic," he says, winking.

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Jessica giggles.

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"What, are you a witch-queen in disguise?"

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"Oh I'm some sort of queen alright."

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Snort. "Sure your highness."

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He mock-curtsies.

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And that's the bell.

"Yaay class."

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"Talk to you later!"

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"Later!"

They have classes! Some of them are the same! Some aren't!

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Gosh, funny how school works.

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Isn't it.

Dayo and Jessica are having lunch with a couple other people today. Dayo waves at Arthur invitingly.

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He comes over.

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He is introduced! People say hi. He flirts with Arthur but in very discreet and plausibly deniable way that involve things that wouldn't count as flirting to anyone who didn't find it incredibly hot when he mentioned charitable donations and investment.

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Arthur appreciates the introductions. He might not be as good at flirting, but it's opaque enough that most people are going to assume the plausible deniability angle.

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And Dayo sure is good enough for both of them.

Then back to classes!

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Yes, he is going to prod Dayo about introducing him to the track team captain.

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Right right there's that. Dayo excuses himself and walks over to another table. "Yo."

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"Hey there. Who's that?"

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"Arthur. He's new, might want to try out for track."

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"Hi, and yes. Dayo suggested it."

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"Huh. Well, tryouts are kinda over, but if you're new..."

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"Yeah, I wish I had moved sooner and started the year along everyone else. If it is too much trouble I won't be offended."

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"Hmm no, it's not too much trouble, what do you think of showing up tomorrow after class at the track field?"

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"Perfect."

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"Dayo can bring you, then."

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"Assuming he doesn't mind."

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"He won't," predicts the captain. "Name's Robert, by the way."

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"A pleasure to meet you. Anything I should know before the tryout?"

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"Don't think so, just show up."

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"Alright, thank you."

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And soon: more class!

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Gosh, it's like the entire point of school.

"I have swimming team tryouts after class," he tells Dayo.

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"...can I watch?"

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"Sure?"

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Grin.

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Snort. Arthur goes poolwards for the tryouts.

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Dayo goes with!

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Arthur goes inside the lockers to change to his swimming trunks.

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Dayo doesn't follow, seeing as he's not himself going to swim, and goes to the bleachers instead.

The swimming captain is in the locker room when Arthur arrives. "Oh, you came, good."

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"Hello. What are the tryouts going to be like?"

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"Gonna ask you to do a couple of small things, time a freestyle lap, check your technique, stuff like that."

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"Alright," he changes, "ready."

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The captain frowns at his trunks. "Those are heavy and are gonna hold you back. If you're serious about this you'll have to either get skintight ones—like the ones they use in the Olympics—or Speedos."

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"Uh, can I do the tryout with these though?"

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"Yes, yes," he says, waving a hand. "You'll also need a cap, though, and while goggles aren't mandatory they're strongly recommended." He walks out the other door to the pool and gestures. "Three hundred meter warmup then we'll start."

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Well he does as instructed.

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And then the captain will time two laps, top speed, freestyle.

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He doesn't have any technique, but knows the basics, is fast and doesn't tire.

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Captain hmms and notes this, then asks him to demonstrate all styles he knows how to swim.

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He does. It's clearly a case of someone that learned but never got in competitions.

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Yeah he can work with that. He asks for a few more things and becomes ever more impressed with Arthur's stamina.

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...Yeah, that is probably good genetics.

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Probably! Okay he's seen enough he'll tell Arthur how he did tomorrow.

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Arthur thanks him and waves to Dayo before going back to the lockers.

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Dayo's waiting for him outside. "You're good," he accuses.

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"I am just naturally athletic!"

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"Oh yes I definitely saw that."

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"Did you now?"

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"I did! It was a very athletic display of athleticism."

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"Are you a sport expert now?"

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"I'm a something expert for sure."

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"When they need something expertise they'll call you right away."

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"I hope they do!"

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"Anyway, I should have an answer tomorrow."

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"But you've also got tryouts for track tomorrow. Are you gonna want to join any other clubs?"

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"None particularly caught my attention."

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"So you're a sports guy. Good to know."

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"Yes, practically a jock. I should look for my blonde cheerleader girlfriend."

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"Hot black genderfluid nerdy genderfriend doesn't cut it?"

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"Maaaaybe."

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"Just maybe?" he pouts.

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"I don't make the trope. I think we could make it work if you are some sort of eyeglass wearing artist and then you stumbled and I helped you stand up or something?"

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"Alas, no art in my blood."

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"Aw, not even a little bit?"

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"Nope! I am without art."

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"You poor thing!"

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"Yeah, I have to make do with science."

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"I suppose. We would need some bullies to knock down your immense pile of science books. Because nothing is digital in this scenario."

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"Nonsense, this isn't Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they could just knock my Kindle out of my hands, and maybe steal my computer or something."

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"Aw, but Kindles don't need help being picked up, not like books at least. I guess the computer is harder."

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"Yeah, they could hide it somewhere disgusting or something."

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He makes a face. "Do people here treat you well?"

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"Yeah yeah, no actual bullies here."

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"Ah, great. I am usually not worried about them, but great."

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He eyes Arthur's... considerable height. "I'm sure you're not."

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"Yes. Yeah, bullies are cowards and being bigger than that is the best defense. I doubt I would even need to be fit, but that surely helps."

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"I'm sure they wouldn't bully you regardless, it's not like there's anything to bully you about, but like I said, this school is bully-free."

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"Well, I am bi. But fair enough."

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"Hmm, I suppose there's that. Not gonna complain."

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"Hopefully not!"

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They go home, and the next day: more school!

Track tryouts are in the afternoon.

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He is predictably there.

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As is the track captain. Is he ready?

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He is!

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Tryouts! Robert is impressed.

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He once again shows a great display of stamina.

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Yeah Robert's pretty sure he's in if he wants to be.

The swimming team captain showed up in the middle of those tryouts and joked around with Robert about stealing his swimmers but then also informs Arthur that if he wants to be he's in.

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Is there a schedule conflict?

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No, not at all.

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Great. He'll accept then.

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...what, both? Uh, alright, if he's sure.

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Well, if there is no problem?

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No, they're just surprised. Alright, he's in, then.

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Okay.

(He wonders if this is suspicious somehow, but he doesn't comment.)

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"So are you sure you're not one of the jocks who are supposed to be bullying me? Our date is tomorrow, you can still bail if you like."

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"Huh." He tilts his head and closes his hand into a fist and then dramatically says, "Neeerrrrd. Sorry, not feeling bullyish."

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"If you're sure."

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"What? Do you want me to try harder at being a bully?"

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"Maybe."

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"Can't say I expected that answer."

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"I'm a boy of many facets."

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"...Some of which want a bully boyfriend?"

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"Roleplaying is fun, you should take it up sometime."

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"Huh. Okay. So I'll be the bully and maybe you can be the elf sorcerer."

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"No, that's breaking genre! You're the closeted bully and I'm the incredibly cute nerd you're attracted to but can't admit it to yourself, and then you roughen me up but that's hot so you lose control and kiss me."

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He makes a disgusted face. "No, that is an episode from Glee. And that is too much for me."

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He laughs. "Caught the reference, did you? Alright, I'll tone it down."

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"Maybe someday, but I am not at that level of kinky."

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He purses his lips but doesn't pursue the subject.

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"Anyway, see you tomorrow?"

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"See you."

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And movie date day arrives.

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And with it, a limo to pick Arthur up.

"Hop in," says Jessica through a window.

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"Wow. Okay." he hops in. "Hi Jessica."

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"Hi!"

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"Hello."

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"Hello. So, where did you two get a limo?"

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"It's hers," she says, pointing at Jessica.

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"Don't worry, I'll get out of your hair at the actual movie theater, I just wanted to make sure you got there in style."

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"Well, this is certainly that."

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She grins.

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"Thank you for offering the ride."

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"You're welcome!"

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"It's going to be kinda hard to do any datelike things while you're watching, though."

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"Like you've ever let that stop you."

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"Um."

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"Let's not mortify the poor boy, we've only just met, I wanna leave a good first impression."

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"Oh fine."

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Smile. "I'm not that easily scared."

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"Good, 'cause Dayo's terrifying."

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"She is a goddess of terrible beauty and despair."

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Jessica and...

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...Dayo blink at him in unison.

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"It's a line... from a movie, The Midnight Emerald. Admittedly it's an obscure movie, but the antagonist vaguely resembles Dayo when female."

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"That's amazing and very hot."

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Jessica starts giggling.

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"Thank you?"

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"I'm a goddess, now, see? So ha."

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"Yes, yes, let's trust the word of the boy who's enamored with you about it."

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"My opinion is completely unbiased."

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"I'm sure it is." She grabs something fizzy to drink from the minibar.

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"It totally is, just ask Dayo."

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"Oh no I totally think you're biased. I'm just not complaining about it."

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Giggle.

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And here's the theater! "Have fun, don't destroy anything, bye!"

Off goes the limo. Some people are kinda staring at them for having come from a limo.

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"Is Jessica prone to doing things like this?"

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"Oh yes."

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"Hardly going to blame her."

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"She's great. Anyway, how about that movie?"

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Giggle. They get inside. Their movie is your typical alien invasion movie. They even completely neglect to address why no magic folk are ever shown fighting off the gray-skinned monsters.

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Oh good then she needn't feel guilty not paying attention to it and instead doing the typical moves one does if one wants to make out in the theater?

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It's practically international law that they have to make out!

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Such a convenient law, that.

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Convenient and very fun.

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So much so that she whines a bit when the movie ends.

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Wait, there was a movie going on?

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"You are adorable."

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"I try!" Kiss. "Too soon to invite you to a second date?"

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"They say we should wait three days but who cares about them."

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Giggle. "Well, there is an exhibit about magic at the museum. They are going to bring some mages and magical animals. They even got some skymages for a show."

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"Ooh, sounds fun!"

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"It's a date then."

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"So's this." Kiss!

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Well, the day of the exhibit comes. The place is more of an art museum that they adapted for the traveling exhibition. There is a wing for the witchlands, one for the stormlands, but the rest is mixed. The entry hall contains a massive globe with bits of flat crystal floating around it. The exhibition's name is beneath it "Around the Worlds." People dressed as Dr. Moore The Elephant and his friends are guiding a group of excited children to one of the wings.

"Ooh, I didn't even know they made layered globes, much less magical layered globes. What do you want to see first?"

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"I don't know! Is there a map or something?"

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There is! It displays the most important exhibits in a rather informative manner. "Oooh, they're going to have a skymagery show in twenty minutes!"

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"Sounds fun."

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They have time to walk around and see a room or two. This one has an interactive exhibit of a piece of unicorn horn in a water tank. People can push a button to release ink into the water and then watch as the water is magically purified.

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Pretty.

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There are plenty of pretty things! They have phoenix feathers in this display, next to an explanation of the history that led to its extinction.

There is a mirror that doesn't show people. There is a bar of metal that turns from lead to gold when exposed to sunlight. There is a magical floating orrery sort of thing.

 

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Magic is so cool!!!!

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The coolest! And it's time for the skymage show!

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The show is outside. There are seven skymages there. Hard to miss the colorful wings. There is even a set of twins that are nearly identical. Only the wings are different!

A middle-aged skymage woman introduces herself and welcomes people to the presentation.

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She gives an introduction to skymagery. Every skymage has the gift of flight, plus any combination of the following gifts: wind, warmth, cold, humidity, lightning, darkness, light and forecasting. Sometimes these gifts come in stronger form and this is represented in their wings. The greater gifts are randomly selected.

Fenris and Felix here are a great example of this. They're genetically identical, but the random selection of greater gifts meant that each one got a different one.

Fenris levitates off the ground, simply ignoring gravity instead of doing anything that uses his wings. The woman explains that skymages with the greater gift of flight can just ignore gravity instead of actually using their wings. This is shown through wings that are differently shaped. Fenris' wings have a pair of claws in each and are slightly smaller.

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Cooooool.

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Some people applaud. The woman continues the explanation. "Felix on the other hand got the greater gift of warmth. Sometimes just called the gift of fire. It does the obvious thing."

Felix snaps his fingers and pretends to have some trouble getting it. But then a ball of fire forms above his hand. People are impressed. Felix "draws" a heart with fire and people applaud.

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The lesser gifts are still useful. Which is demonstrated when Fenris douses the fire heart with a localized cloud. Another skymage then complains that one shouldn't rain on someone's else day. And leaving puddles around isn't polite. The skymage makes the water float off the ground. Another skymage freezes it.

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She is genuinely envious now.

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The show proceeds like this. At one point they take flight and start making interesting things with the clouds.

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Really cool.

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There is some talk about global warming (and how it's not caused by skymages; this causes people to laugh) and environmental importance. Most people are paying attention to the minor feats of magic in the background.

Like this one twin high-fiving people while flying upside down.

High-five?

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High-five!

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Eventually the show ends and the crowd disperses. Some of the skymages hang around and even talk to people that approach them.

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She's one of those people.

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One of the skymage twins was talking to a child that asked to touch his wings. He provided that until the child's parents hurriedly retrieve the kid.

(The parents look vaguely afraid.)

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"That was a really cool show."

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"It truly was!"

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"Oh, thank you! We tried our best!"

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"Are you from nearby?"

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"Oh, we actually live in town."

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"The other skymages are friends of a friend and invited us to do this gig."

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"You do? How come I've never run into you?"

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"How often do you look up?"

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"I heard humans are terrible at that."

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"Well now I'm gonna start looking up all the time."

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"Don't get hit by a bus over it. We actually only moved into the city a little more than a year ago. Which explains why we've never met before."

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Snort. "Flying is practical for most things except meeting new people."

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"I suppose museums are better for that. I actually just moved a couple of weeks back."

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"I've been here a while, though. Suppose I'm the native."

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"Have you? Anything to recommend that people are unlikely to discover in under a year?"

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"I can think of a thing or two."

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"Ooh, I don't think we got your names. I'm Felix and this is Fenris, in case you forgot."

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"Dayo. He's Arthur."

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He waves.

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"Are you enjoying the exhibition? We haven't gotten around to actually looking at it."

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"Yeah! We'd actually just arrived before coming here."

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"Do you have time until the next show? I always wonder what people that are represented in these sorts of things think of them."

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"We do. And we wouldn't mind voicing our opinions."

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"Then let's go see some hilariously inaccurate exhibits."

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"They're probably not that bad."

And here is the Stormlands part of the exhibit! There are a lot of pictures and miscellaneous artifacts! A sea serpent skeleton hanging from the ceiling that loops around the room! A stuffed set of lords-of-birds and how the symbiotic magic propagates between different species of birds! Various pictures of skymages using their magical powers and how these affect the colors of their wings (or their eyes if they have greater forecast). There is one about Stormland history.

"Oooh, found the first hilariously inaccurate mistake."

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"Do tell!"

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"Probably this isn't as meaningful if you don't have tormundic ancestry. But here they're describing the end of Stormlords and how most island-states adopted democracy or at least things sufficiently close to democracy that they eventually became democratic. So far so good."

He points at a picture, showing skymages fighting a storm elemental. This one is vaguely dragon-shaped, but still obviously made out of clouds.

"Here they are claiming that skymages stopped fighting the storms elementals after their governments turned democratic. Which isn't quite true."

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"Oh?" Arthur asks.

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"What happened is that democratic states didn't fight storm elementals, instead preparing themselves to endure their storms."

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"Uh, but..." He points to another bit of display, "this says that once killed storm elementals take five to seven months to be replaced. Wouldn't be easier to always kill them?"

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"Nope," Fenris says, "because an elemental's first storm is stronger and you don't know its powers and what sort of weather patterns it defaults to. Sure, Stormlords only had to fight them two or three times a year, but the stormlords and their populations experienced a much greater mortality rate per storm. Stormlords had tons of children to compensate and they warred each other for space and power."

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"While things are much stabler on the democratic side of things. Storm elementals don't change no matter how long they stay around, so you can plan around that, incentivize people to have children with the right gifts so they are useful when their obligatory military service comes around. Having people tied up in a place every other month also did some things to keep skymages busy and not warring against each other. So their numbers grew even thought the birth rate was like, a third of the Stormlords'. And they're more prosperous in general."

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"In other words, the Stormlords were outcompeted because their way to fight the storms was worse than not fighting the storms. And that caused the fall of their aristocracy and then democracy came along."

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"How come another aristocracy didn't take their place instead?"

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"Oh, other Stormlords would totally invade each other's territories. The problem is that those Stormlords wouldn't adapt and kept killing the storm elementals. Or some tried the new way, but didn't have the numbers to pull it off while fighting other Stormlords and the democratic coalition."

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"Yeah, tradition is a horrible thing. And I guess there was a sense of pride too. Not becoming like your enemies and all that."

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"Sounds like it was luck more than anything that democracy won out."

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"Yup! If the Stormlords had adapted sooner, or if the democracy side hadn't, then the Stormlords would've stayed and me and Fenris would be princes."

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"Oh, you're royal family. Must've sucked to lose all that nice power."

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"Well, you can't be a skymage without being related to some sort of nobility."

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"Yes but lots of nobility had second-cousins-in-law, being a prince is something else."

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"Are you literally a prince? I assumed you were being hyperbolic."

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"We mean direct descendants of Stormlord Estaminir Dalkaila, last Stormlord to rule Dalkas, the dawnlight island."

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"So sad that democracy triumphed. Fenris would be so glad to be waiting in line to rule the island with an iron fist."

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"Would he?"

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"Oh, I would be terrible. I would gather all the power that the position grants me and use it to improve the lives of my subjects as best as I could."

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"Presuming his personality stayed the same."

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"Well, if you're going to propose alternate universes where the two of you still are born."

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"Power corrupts, surely he would become an evil despot."

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"Yes, and I bet with that sort of resources I would do evil things like break the natural order and fund research to end death itself. Like a true villain does."

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"I'm not sure princes have that much power and money. Admirable goals, though."

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"I could help repair relations with the Witchlands and then we would have a united magical world that would be better at turning their energy towards constructive ends."

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"Are relations with them particularly bad?"

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"If you ever wondered why the magical polities don't do more to help the planet or why they never even conquered it, you can blame that on the fact that Stormlands and Witchlands are too focused in posturing that they can defend against each other."

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"I mean, that is not all of the problem, but it's 70% of it."

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"Why is it a part of the problem, and what's the other thirty percent?"

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"I don't think that is the exact percentage, but I do think that a good chunk of the problem is that the two major sides of the international magical community are at odds with each other so they can't reach a consensus on how to help magic people elsewhere. If that was out of the way, I think the Stormlands and Witchlands would be strong enough to seriously improve things everywhere else."

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"And the thirty percent is just your good old religious thaumatophobia."

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"Right, I mean, why are they at odds?"

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"Yeah... I heard about it before, but never got any better explanation besides 'historical reasons' and some vaguely misogynistic commentary on the Witch-queens."

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"I mean, historical reasons is in fact most of it. Without going into a history lesson, the Witch-queens tried to invade and conquer the Stormlands a lot in the past. Failed each time and then simply stopped. Generations later, both sides still hold a grudge over it."

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"Well, it isn't unreasonable to think that the Witch-queens would invade yet again if they felt it would work this time around."

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"And why do they want to invade?"

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Shrug. "They're always fighting each other for territory too."

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She sighs. "Yeah, I know, it's just... it's the twenty-first century. Just. Why."

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"Like, I think the fighting was at least cultural, but most cultural things don't involve throwing city-leveling power around while dressed pretty."

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"Yeah, exactly."

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"Well, a lot of cultural things involve dressing prettily."

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"Weird anyway. Very weird."

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"Yeah, anyway. Let's see the rest of the exhibition?"

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"Sure."

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There is a layered map showing the Stormlands. The twins point out where Dalkas is. It overlaps with the east third of Greenland, while the west third belongs to Sumralkas, the dusklight island. The middle third is ocean and the display mentions how the middle of greenland has no land, but is frozen over. And goes on talking about how geography often repeats across dimensions, but with minor differences. It gives the example of the seven-sisters peaks, a mountain repeated over and over across the overlapping dimensions, but with minor differences. One is a volcano.

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Yeah that one she knew. Still really cool, though.

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They move to the next session, about the Witchlands.

There is a Witch-Queen's dress. So long that if used as a tent it would be a very spacious tent. It's enchanted with animated pictures of constellations glowing agaisnt dark blue silk.

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Ooh pretty.

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Very pretty. Other Witch-queen artifacts are similarly extravagant and elaborate. There is a video screen showing a Witch-queen fight in a loop. Currently the scene shows a flower themed Witch-queen making an army sprout of seeds from the ground, while the other is charging up a single target attack. Kids huddle around the screen and occasionally have to be told to contain their cheering to a minimum.

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The twins receive a text. "Oh, they're calling us back. So, would you guys like to meet again some other day?"

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"I'd love to."

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"Me too."

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"Great!"

They exchange contact information and then the twins leave.

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And Dayo and Arthur can continue on their date while she mulls over a thing or two.

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There are more interesting sights to see. Eventually he asks, "What is on your mind?"

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"—hm? Oh, just, the twins." Pause. "Perhaps not the best answer I could've given, in a date."

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"We were just talking to them. What about them?"

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"They just seemed like very interesting and peculiar people."

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"They did! Not every day you meet skymages. Or mageborns in general."

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"I mean, in addition to being skymages."

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"Oh, yes. Also not every day you meet people with the explicit desire to improve upon the natural order."

He looks at her affectionately.

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"All talk," she says, grinning.

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Kiss. "You're too adorable."

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Kiss! "Who, me? Lies and slander."

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Kiss! "Are you sure? I think I have a pretty reliable source." Kiss.

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"And what is it?"

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"It's a secret! You can't just go around telling everyone about your sources."

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"Of course you can, that's how science!"

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"I thought science was more about observations. And I observe you're adorable."

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"Anecdotes, just anecdotes."

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"Just anedoctes?"

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"Yep. And the plural of anecdote is not data."

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"Aw, does this mean I should stop observing that you're adorable?"

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"No, no, just that you need to appropriately record and interpret the data before drawing conclusions from them."

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"I see. So I will have to write down all of your behavior, then conduct a blind test with people judging it adorable or not." He nods sagely.

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"You get it!"

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He makes a show of writing himself a note. Then he kisses her.

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Kiss!

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Meanwhile, the twins present the show again.

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Many people find their show very interesting! Including the exhibition's main patron/organiser.

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That is good!

(They need the money.)

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They deserve it!

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The crowd appears to agree. Once again, they hang around once the show is done.

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And she goes talk to them.

"Hi!"

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"Oh, hi! ...Are you Sadde Baldwin?"

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"The very same. I don't love the last name, though, just Sadde will do."

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"Well, it's an honor to meet you, Sadde."

They both bow. The traditional skymage bow with the wings outstretched.

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"To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence?"

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"Oh I just wanted to watch, heard good things about it. I must say I'm positively surprised."

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"We are glad. And you organized a really great exhibition."

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"Thank you! It's nice to have people interested in magic, work some against the thaumatophobia. You two are doing a great job there, too."

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"Oh, thank you." Felix smiles.

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"I think it does a great deal of good for the children. Having positive contact with magic this early, I mean. Hopefully it will stick."

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"Hopefully! Do you often do things like this?"

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"There really isn't a market for it. We just needed the extra money."

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"Any other profitable skills you might have that may also advance my secret nefarious agenda?"

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"I don't know what sort of skills you need. I like to think that we are photogenic and charismatic, if I may so flatter myself."

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"That's certainly true."

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"Also, I always wanted to go around preventing natural disasters without being bothered by unfair laws if you can pull that off."

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"Do the laws get in your way much?"

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"Yeah. It varies per state, but it turns out that if I put out a housefire - which I can do by thinking - I could get sued because it counts as using a hostile magical ability in private property."

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"...hm. The thought of a masked vigilante amuses me but would be counterproductive; I think I might introduce you to my lawyer."

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"Wow, that would be very nice of you."

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"Also, masks wouldn't help us keep our secret identities." Fenris stretches his wings.

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"That's a solvable problem," she says, waving dismissively towards the wings. "Tell me your emails, I'll send you her contact info. She's really good at navigating all magical laws."

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"Solvable how?" They give her the emails.

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"Dye your wings and add prosthetics to make them look different, use some glamour, really, the options are endless."

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"That still doesn't solve the problem that skymages are too rare and we would be the obvious suspects."

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"Yeah, but then we can finally pull a twin switch plot!"

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"That something you've always wanted?"

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"Of course. What is even the point of having a twin then?"

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"Besides the lifelong close bond and companionship."

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"And the fact that it's a random happenstance and needn't have a point."

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"Awww. But being a twin is so great. It obviously has a point, the point being having a twin is awesome."

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"I'm sure it is."

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"At any rate. Dyes don't really stick to our feathers. Not sure if that is a pro or a con to our possible careers as vigilantes."

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"Well, magic," she shrugs, waving a hand and making sparkles appear.

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"That magic is also why it might not stick to our feathers. Our wings do a self-maintenance and healing thing that interferes with keeping them dyed. Granted, I'm not sure how it would interact with witchcraft. I'm sure it was tested in the past, but not in friendly terms."

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"I'm friendly! I'm very friendly."

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"You're extremely friendly, don't worry. Fenris was literally just pointing out a fact."

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"I'm aware, and I was pointing out another fact."

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Snort. "Then we are all better informed now. Which is fitting given that we are in a museum and all."

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She giggles. "Anyway, I gotta go, I'll email you Esther's contact info—and mine."

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"Thank you so much!"

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"It was a pleasure to meet you."

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They soon receive an email with Sadde's lawyer's contact information: a woman named Esther Morgan who specializes in magic law.

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They respond promptly. Is Esther Morgan aware of the Dalkaila situation?

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Which part of it?

(The answer is probably 'yes' but she needs to make sure.)

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Well, you can't really separate things in discrete parts. There is the fact that when their parents died the thaumatophobic doctor decided to call a poorly trained thaumatophobic security guard who decided it was a good idea to point a gun at Felix's head in case he reacted badly to the news "your parents are dead". That is by far the most absurd part of the entire situation and even made the news. The United States government even made a point of looking very apologetic about it. Then their grandparents took their younger sister to the Stormlands and decided not to send her back and kept insisting that the twins go against their parents' wishes and go to the Stormlands too. The government was suddenly less apologetic and just absent. The twins' parents had named their surviving uncle and (a fiancée at the time of the writing of their will) the uncle's ex-girlfriend to become their legal guardians upon death. The uncle moved back to the Stormlands after the break-up and the twins had to convince the ex to let them crash at her place while the twins got emancipated. They suspect, but have no concrete proof, that their grandparents have been sabotaging the twins' attempt to work using their skymagery.

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...she did not know about the sister part. This does not make her happy.

What would an acceptable outcome look like, to them?

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In order from the most to least important:

1. They want their sister safe.

2. They want their sister to not be forced in an arranged marriage for the purpose of skymage-gift eugenics.

3. They want their sister to not be under constant pressure to be a skymage dedicated to serving the community.

(Oh, they just remembered that this correspondence should be confidential. So they're free to reveal that their uncle (the gradparents' eldest) killed himself because of emotional pressure from the maternal grandparents. They wanted him to be a skymage dedicated to serving the community.)

4. They want their sister living with them.

5. They want their grandparents to not influence the twins' job prospects negatively, if they are doing that.

(As a side note, they explain that they have family from their father's side, but they are more or less estranged and that set of grandparents is likely to do what the other tells them to. So putting their sisters with them is not an option. Their surviving maternal uncle is not available for the same reason.)

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Define "safe." Do they expect their grandparents are physically or emotionally abusing her?

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Not physically abusive, no. The grandparents had high standards and their children would need to earn being allowed to have fun, seeing friends outside of school hours or even having time with their own parents (on the grounds that their time was too valuable and helped many lives). Their mom remarked that their dead uncle used to get a lot of praise and the other was largely ignored like he wasn't there. She was somewhere in the middle. Allegedly the grandparents have tried to improve over the years, but they took their sister and didn't let her go back.

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Okay, this she can definitely work with, even if it wasn't exactly what she was hired for. The biggest problem is that they're still minors, but if they can prove that their sister is more suited to being raised by them they can get custody that way. It's going to be extremely hard, though, the system is rigged against them.

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They are grateful! They didn't even have better options before. They even considered going to the Stormlands and then share the burden of being around their grandparents (they didn't went for that because it would be so much harder to actually rescue Maira from the situation.)

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She can start looking into that, then.