nexus_sages | Single Guard Seeks Thief…

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Single Guard Seeks Thief…

...Wait, no, not that way.

Having been absent from his post for a couple of weeks or so, Felix is once again in Legion leathers and stationed outside the heavy rune-inscribed doors that mark ‘his’ portal. He’s sitting casually atop the desk draped with its red and black Imperial banner, turning something blue-white and glimmering over in his hand. A quill? A feather? Some sort of pin?

“How is it that when you want to find a particular sort of person, they’re nowhere to be found?” he asks, pushing his hood back. “Even when normally you’d be shaking them out of your pockets.”

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“Mmmhmm. Perhaps.” He’s going to act dubious until the next time he’s offered lunch, you watch.

Mainly because he knows she lives with Naugus, and Felix knows he’s a much younger mage – weaker, in most respects. “All right.” He shifts to face her better, dismissing the feather in a tiny spray of purple sparks.

“This gets a little involved, but since you asked I won’t feel too guilty about it." He grins. "The way we describe spells, there are three main forms of defense. You use alteration magic to give yourself magical armor, which is best against physical attacks. Restoration magic covers spells for healing, but also wards that redirect hostile magic and drive off the undead. The last and broadest type of defense is aggressive magic – being more dangerous than your enemies.”

And here she thought they'd built a good foundation of trust for their lunch dates.

Has he heard Naugus talk about magic? Or, worse, apprentices? There is something fishy there. Felix is a much more sensible option in that she doesn't get the feeling he's trying to pull one over on her.

She's guessing they haven't got to the involved part yet, since none of that was too complicated. But it's a good place to start. "What about spells to protect someone else?" Bless her heart, she's trying to act casual about it too.

That’s the second reason he’ll cave in the face of food. The first being his stomach.

“Usually if you can cast a spell on yourself, it’s a short step to casting it on someone else. It does take more out of you. The wards are tricky, though – you can’t really share those unless you cast them so wide the other person can stand behind, or create a protective circle to stand in. Either of those takes an awful lot of power and skill. I know I can't do either. It’s actually easier to enchant protective equipment they can carry.”

She's pleased to be rated above his spleen.

"That's... not... really likely..." Think about it, Felix. Considering her last experience with a magic ring, does it seem likely she's going to make more? "Does healing magic treat illness as well as injury?"

He nods. Her feelings there aren’t surprising, but if she’s willing to touch magic at all he has a hard time thinking of enchantment as particularly distressing. It’s not risk-free, but it’s one of the least dangerous (and most generally popular) forms of magic he knows.

“There are some advanced spells to cure diseases, but that’s usually the alchemist’s job. Simple healing spells just treat the effects. That doesn’t make them useless, though – sometimes it’s enough to sustain a person until they recover. Prevent permanent damage, and so on.”

These kinds of issues rarely make rational sense. Give her time; she'll get there if people are patient with her.

"So alchemy is separate from magic?" Now it's getting confusing. "Oh, no, I wasn't thinking it'd be useless, I just want to understand what is and isn't possible. It sounds very useful. I think that's what I'd like to learn first."

Learning Azerothean ice magic and Tamrielic healing magic at the same time? No problem. What could possibly go wrong?

“It counts as a magical discipline. But it doesn’t require as much raw power, a bit like enchantment. And it’s separate from restoration magic, so there are plenty of alchemists who aren’t healers themselves.” He thinks it over and nods a little. “Yes, that’s not so bad. I’m fairly good with restoration – I can get you up to the basic spells, at the very least.”

Just don't panic and freeze the patient, Verity. Or heal your opponent, that's always awkward.

"Hmm." Alchemy sounds like something she'd be good at: it's more scientific, and she's a good cook. Maybe she'll have to look into that later... "I'd really appreciate it if you would. Thank you. I'll pay for all the materials of course, and whatever you think is fair."

What, she shouldn't share senzu beans with her opponents so it's a fair fight?

"It shouldn't cost much - I can lend you our books to start off. Stratos has been drilling me in everything but conjuration since he got me into uniform." He makes a note to track down the Khajiit trader and see if she has any beginner tomes.

"The other thing to bear in mind is- well, not everyone has an aptitude for magic. We need to find out whether you can draw on that kind of energy first. If not, we can just switch our focus to alchemy."

Ravari always has books. ~~Ravari needs to get off her tail and come around for the Christmas shopping crowd.~~

"Thank you. Schön said I do. Have magic in my blood, I mean. Grandpa Willis never bothered to teach us how to use it, but he couldn't stop it from being passed down." Her family has a long and complicated history with magic, elves, faeries, Asgardians, and all sorts of things they never bothered to tell her about. "Not that I'd mind learning alchemy either. Or later."

She smiles then and offers, "They say that the best way to be sure you really understand something is to teach it to someone else. Stratos might actually like this idea."

He needs her to come so he can buy all the books with ~~Stratos's~~ official money.

"Oh! Excellent." That saves the risk of disappointment. He gives her a curious look, but family is a tough subject for her and he doesn't want to ask more.

"That's a popular saying with my family." He grins for a moment. "I don't think he'll object, I think he'll use it as an excuse to drill me harder. You know, make sure I'm not passing on any lazy habits or misinformation. And we can cover some alchemy, too - the theory overlaps anyway, when it comes to the biology."

Verity can probably look forward to a grilling herself, just to make doubly sure.

Oh if only her player were reading this...

The curious look is met with a little shrug. She doesn't have many answers to give, but he can ask if he wants. She's not in the habit of shying away from his questions.

"I'd hate to give him another reason to bother you. I mean, beyond the fact I exist and like to talk to you." What is it with people and their bossy older sibs lately? If Stratos and Samus don't work out, she might push him at Isidor just to get them both to shut up and stop bothering people she likes better. "But when it comes to biology, I might be able to teach you a few things."

Aaaaand then she realizes how that sounds. Oh, the blushing. "I mean. Not like that. Like. With books. And genetics. And... I'm going to shut up now."

Shine the cat-signal on the clouds!

Verity, do you really want Stratos and Isidor joining forces? Bad enough that Samus is busy giving the elder Caelus ideas - also the younger, now, but what harm can come of that?

Felix breaks into laughter - no, she's not getting away with that so easily. "Verity! And after you already shoved me off on Jim!"

Oh, fuck no. That would be terrible. New plan: never ever let them meet. Samus giving Stratos ideas is probably fine; it's unlikely to be worse than the training Ver volunteers for. But V is fragile and couldn't handle this kind of nonsense.

"You know that's not what I meant!" Because protesting and blushing more is absolutely going to help. "How the body works has been thoroughly studied where I'm from, and combining the scientific knowledge I have with the magical knowledge you have could have some interesting results."

But then, V surely doesn't try so hard to earn it either.

"I'm sure." He's still grinning cheekily. "We'll have to compare notes and see how we measure up. In a manner of speaking."

She may need to smack him. It's all right, Stratos would understand.

True, he's generally a very well-behaved young man. She's trying to fix that.

Oh, she doesn't need to smack him. She's got something better. "I'm sure Jim can handle all of that."

Point to her: his grin fades a bit as he shrugs. "Well, but he hasn't asked to study."

Oh. Oh. Bad little brother. This is not a point she wants! "He's... really not good at the follow-up. With anybody, about anything."

"...Oh, I didn't mean it that way." He lifts a hand, quick to assure her all is well. "I meant he's not much for... analyzing matters." Actually Jim's been following up more than Felix expected, but he's not certain how much of that to share. It's not as if he had any claim on Jim's attention.

"Ah." Okay, good, she'd be really upset if either of them was hurting the other's feelings. "I think he's allergic to thinking about things. He'd probably say that's what he has Spock for."

She's naturally curious about how things are going between them, but so long as neither of them is too upset she doesn't need details. (She'd only feel like she needs details if things were going badly so she'd know who to yell at.)

"Not everything's meant to be overthought. Spock would be...?"

"His first officer. I haven't met him yet, but Jim says we'd get along, so I'm not sure if that's a good thing..."

"I can't imagine it's a bad one." He gives her a perfectly ordinary smile this time. "Just to forewarn you, I'll probably be away for the next few days - errands to run, that kind of thing." Wow is he stretching the word 'errand', but... it's just about calling on a Prince and asking a favor, right?

"I'll try to bring the books next time I'm in. It's going to be all theory and mental exercises for a while, anyway." He runs a hand through his hair, deep in thought for a moment. "You know, I can't even remember when I started."

"Okay. Thanks for letting me know." She knows her friends shouldn't have to deal with her issues, but she's glad so many of them are willing to take it in stride (for a while). The details of where he's going and what he's doing are, she assumes, classified; she won't ask. "Does that mean Stratos will send some other cute soldier to sit at the desk and flirt with people?"

If that was meant to be a warning, she doesn't look very daunted. She's not afraid of academic work. "I have a lot of catching up to do, I know. I promise I'll be diligent, even if I'm not talented. I won't waste your time."

She might be less pleased if Stratos comes around looking for him...

"He doesn't have anyone like me. Well, maybe Sir Celann, but he's not the sort of cute you mean." Felix grins. "Maybe Stratos will have to do it himself for a change."

He's giving her a patently amused look at that last. "Of course you won't. Verity, it's me, remember? Felix? The fun one? We're not in any rush."

Single Guard Seeks Thief…

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