nexus_sages | (no subject)

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A young man sits on one of the many couches in the Forum, and sighs at a notebook in his hands. The page is full of scribbled-out text, pages and pages of it. The pages are dog-eared and a bit ragged, indicating he's been using this notebook for a while.

"How can it be this hard to think of a good name for a secret identity?"

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He laughs a little at that. "Yeah, I guess so."

"And there, the attentive student of life finds a valuable lesson: intuition makes a welcome traveling companion, but is not infallible as a guide."

"Interesting way of looking at it... are you a philosopher?"

"To some extent, I must be, yes," he answers. "Philosophy seeks to broaden the mind in order to encompass the world; magic seeks to shape what of the world the mind can encompass. If I am to be a mage, then I must also be a philosopher." He smiles, then, a cheerful expression full of small, pointy teeth.

"Is magic common where you're from? Uh, Nirn?" he adds, remembering what Shade-Seeker called his world.

"Assuredly," the lizard replies. "Magic is in all things--some, perhaps, a little more than others, to be sure."

"There aren't many magic-users where I'm from, but it's not unheard of. It's a bit more common in Mom's home universe."

"An intriguing genealogy, to be sure," Shade-Seeker muses. "It is from your mother, then, that your knack for flying comes?"

"Oh, no, that's from my dad," Jon says, shaking his head. "He just does that naturally."

"Naturally? He flies without magic or, I presume, wings, and this is natural? My fascination grows."

"Yeah. It's a Kryptonian thing; I can't really explain how it works."

"No? A pity. My curiosity must remain unsatisfied, it seems." He pauses, then asks, "Kryptonian--is that a tribal distinction, racial, something else? As I reconsider our discussion, it seems possible that your remarks might have consciously distanced you from the humans you resemble--at least, to the extent of my ability to distinguish."

"Different species," Jon explains. "I'm only half, but apparently it's enough to get some of the perks."

"Different species, capable of joint reproduction? Interesting." He pauses, then shakes his head a little. "I apologize. Academic curiosity has prompted me to inquire more deeply than is polite."

"It's okay," Jon says with a small smile. "I get the whole curiosity thing."

The smile is answered with one that might be relieved (it's hard for some people to read those reptilian features). "I am pleased, then, not to have given offense in excess."

"I don't get offended easily. Besides, you never know stuff unless you ask."

That prompts a wide grin. "The spirit of the scholar! It is well-said!"

"I'm still a student, it's habit," he says with a smile.

"I think that if we live well, we are always still students."

"Well yeah, in an abstract sense, sure. But I meant I'm still in school."

"Ah. As, in a sense, am I. May I ask what you study?"

"I'm going to a trade school to become a certified mechanic," Jon says, although he doesn't know if that'll mean anything to Shade-Seeker.

Shade-Seeker is quiet for a moment, processing that answer with visible care. "Do I correctly infer that a 'trade school' is an institution which instructs its students in a specific trade, as might an apprenticeship? And that a 'mechanic' is one who is knowledgeable on the subject of machines?"

"That's pretty much exactly right, on both counts," Jon says with a nod.