rogueinladysclothing | A turn of magical events [Tagging Viatorus]

The first answer she offers is met with a raised eyebrow, but her latter suggestions find him conceding the possibility with a nod of his head to one side. They're all possible, though not possibilities he'd considered before when he really should have. Different worlds and their different reactions to magic... It's unlikely he'll ever keep that fully in mind.

Just when his muddled mind is about to relax, Amelia has to go and start him worrying again. His brow furrows and he shakes his head. "No, Amelia... You... You don't learn magic quickly." Sighing and trying to smooth out his brow, he runs a hand through his hair as if it might help him think. "Magic isn't something to be rushed. Especially fire magic. Fire is one of the most dangerous kinds of magic for beginners. You don't even understand how you did it, which means you don't understand how to control it. And you need a good control of fire to use it."

"You... You need a study plan. A guide to make sure you learn this safely and thoroughly."

She rolls her eyes at him. "No, no, I don't want to learn fire magic. It's just the starting point, the means to an end. I want to learn defensive magics: wards, barriers, that sort of thing. It's what I've been studying, what I've been trying to do for so long. But until now, I... couldn't do anything." Her lips draw into a thin line and she crosses her arms in front of her chest, finally taking a pause that's longer than a few seconds to think. It's surprisingly hard at this particular moment.

"You're right, though. I need..." A beat and a frown. "Fuck, I need a lot of things to make this work. I need more time, patience, and energy than I have to get through all of this on top of a plan so I don't get overwhelmed. Dreams, I need so much more time!" She makes a small noise of frustration and begins pacing the room, pulling down her hair from its normal position to brush it out slowly to keep her hands busy.

"I'm never going to find it, you know." Her eyes track over to him as she paces the tiny room, her steps carefully moving around the books and papers scattered on the floor. He'll note that some of them look a little singed in places. "A guide, I mean. A mentor... whatever you want to call it. No one's going to take the time for me. I'm not naturally gifted like you. I don't come from a magical family or any of that. I'm rash, impatient, stubborn, flawed - I'm nothing." She stops suddenly, her hands falling to her side and her hair pin clenched tightly in her right hand. Slowly, she shakes her head and settles her eyes on the floor in front of her. "There's no reason to believe I'm not doing this alone."

He's about to explain to her the many dangers of magic, all magic, when she changes the subject. Some small part of him settles at her agreement on her needing a tutor. The rest of him despairs faintly at her berating herself so readily.

"Rash, impatient and stubborn are three of my sister's finest qualities," Viatorus comments with a small smile. The books finally catch his eye and he bends down, picks one up, before standing again. "And she's the family favourite."

"Besides, yesterday you couldn't do magic at all. Now you're doing it. And in a multiversal space on top of it all, which I bet you didn't imagine existed when you were younger. Never say never," he tells her, waving the book at her gently before it gets a closer inspection. And it's back to frowning. "... Did you burn this?"

"I am nothing like Isidor." She says it without thinking, with a stern look on her face. "It's an insult to her to even suggest it." If she's come to learn anything recently, it's that she's not even close to the person she thought she was, which means she's nothing like the forceful patron.

She sighs softly, but before she can add to that thought, he's asking about the book in his hands. Amelia looks over at it then rolls her eyes as she walks over and takes it from his hands. "Singed it, thank you very much." She sets it and her hair pin aside momentarily to gather up the others books and things from the floor. "I got so excited that every time I tried to write in something, or even touch it with the end of my pen, it started to... smolder a little." A beat and she looks over at him to make sure she has his attention before she continues. "But I put everything out before it got even more than a little singed, I swear!"

If he looked uncertain before he looks downright horrified now. "You did what? Oh gods, but you could have... You might have..."

He catches himself about to half warn, half scold her when he realises that this is an oddly familiar thing. Except that it was him as a child and his tutors doing the lecturing. That felt like an age ago now. He'd forgotten what it was like.

Taking a deep breath, he clears his head as best he can and then looks at her seriously. "No more magic except under supervision. You need guidance. Or at least someone to help you put any fires out." He runs another hand through his hair and rubs his scalp a little. "You need to learn how to control it. I'll help you as much as I can and you can look for a proper teacher in the meantime."

"Come on, I'll be fine! I promise I won't do it without-- ouch!" She drops the papers in her hand that appear to have begun burning under her fingers and stamps them out quickly. The look she gives him is more embarrassed than guilty and she coughs conspicuously, her gaze wandering everywhere he isn't right now.

"I'm guessing that's a strike against me, isn't it?"

Edited 2016-05-26 17:48 (UTC)

Viatorus stares at her for the longest minute. What is he going to do with her? "You're going to burn the whole place down."

That would be a yes, Amelia.

"Right." His other hand lifts to his head, both now rubbing his temples as he tries desperately to think this through. "Right. You have magic now, and it's fire magic, and you can't control it."

Dropping from his head, he gestures at her with both hands. "I have some things back at my apartment. We'll ground you, I don't want to do a binding, because that might ruin your connection with your power. No, we'll ground you, and get some sleep and deal with this properly in the morning. Maybe I can put up some dispelling wards as well."

Edited 2016-05-26 21:37 (UTC)

There's a moment where she misses what he's trying to say, where her understanding disconnects from what she's hearing and she thinks he means to take the magic away completely. It passes after a moment, when he finishes his thought, but the fleeting terror is easy to see. She takes a few deep breaths to settle herself before speaking.

"What... exactly does that mean? Can I still use magic after I'm... grounded? It can be reversed once I have control, right?"

She trusts him, but this is a hard thing to understand when she's stressed out and running more on adrenaline than sleep.

"No, I..." He wipes his face and takes a deep breath. Why does it feel like he's rested so little even when he sleeps so much? "I'm not using a binding on you. Even if I did, it would be reversible. No, I want to get you grounded. So your magic isn't..." He holds out his hands flat, palms down to help him explain. "So it's not right under the surface. So it's not driven by instinct and emotion."

He's not taking it away. She can keep it. It'll be fine. It will be fine.

"Okay, let's... get this over with, then." She's still nervous and upset and it's obvious, but she's trusting him. Viatorus would never hurt her and wouldn't lie to her. Well, most likely, but he's scared right now and--

No. It will be fine.

Her gaze falls to the floor and her shoulders slump forward a bit. "Please. Before I do anything else that could hurt you." Because even though she's worried about herself, she's still more worried about what she could do to him.

"I'm really the last person you should be worried about. Your books though..." He tries to smile encouragingly, to inject some light heartedness into the room again. That's what Harrowheart does and it usually works. "Pack some things if you need them. You should stay in my spare room. We'll get you grounded there and then rest."

It's a terrible attempt at a joke, but she appreciates the effort anyway and throws a half-smile at him for the attempt. "There's always more books," she points out, "though I suppose the librarians won't be happy to see what I've done."

It only takes her a minute to gather a fresh set of clothes and the few books and papers she thinks might be useful. All of these are packed into her leather messenger bag before she takes a moment to rebraid and pin up her hair. Everything taken care of, she pulls the bag over her shoulder and nods to him. "Whenever you're ready."

Edited 2016-05-27 03:05 (UTC)

"These are borrowed books?" And there goes his smile. While she gathers her things, he inspects any books he can, wondering if he can offer reparations. Money or mending... It's these thoughts he's pulled from when she gets his attention again.

"Oh, yes." Quickly returning to the present, he opens the door and holds it for her. In the corridor Lyall's waiting, looking a little groggy, but keeping close nonetheless. If the trip back to Viatorus' apartment is quiet it's only because he's running through things in his head. What he needs and what techniques he should use...

It occurs to him that Amelia might have foregone food in favour of study like he has a tendency to do, but when it comes down to a choice between food or sleep, sleep always wins with the Dreamwalker.

Inside the apartment Viatorus is quick to encourage her to, "Make yourself at home. I... I need to gather a few things." If he can remember where they all are...

"If the librarians want something from me in return for the damage, they'll get it. Money isn't an issue." With a little smart investment, Amelia's been quite well settled here in the Nexus. Coming in with so much gold on her person also helped. Finding a job is still a long-term plan, but not one she's actually made any progress on as there's been no need for the added financial stability yet.

Amelia spares a nod to Lyall before she falls in close behind Viatorus. Her thoughts are quiet as she focuses on staying calm and not jumping to conclusions about all of this. She has no idea what all of this entails, but she knows it's best to trust her friend. Between the two of them, he's certainly the subject matter expert.

...it's best he doesn't ask about her eating habits, though. Between the stress, frustration, and distractions, Amelia's lucky if she gets one full meal in a day. Snacks of dried fruits and meats - things that keep for some time without effort - are her friends when she settles in to study. Even if her body demands more from her, she pushes it aside to stay focused on the task at hand. She's not wasting away or malnourished, but she could certainly stand to take better care of herself, both in how much she eats and sleeps.

Despite his asking her to relax once they arrive, Amelia knows she's going to pace the living room area if left alone. "Are you sure I can't help instead? Get this done quicker? I promise to keep my thoughts focused so I don't..." She gestures vaguely. "...well, you know."

Viatorus has already brought out several things from his study. A thin book and two small wooden cases. He sets them down on the coffee table, freeing up his hands so that he can flick through the book. It's one of his own, filled with useful, if less often used, spells.

Her question gets a brief glance up from the page. "Do you know what hematite, obsidian and onyx look like? Can you tell them apart from other black stones?"

Amelia frowns. "I'm afraid not." She knows what they are, but there's no way she could reliably differentiate them from one another. Geology was never something she took the time to learn about.

Holding back a sigh, she sits down on the couch and sets aside her bag. She folds her hands together in her lap and looks down at them silently, feeling completely useless. It's an uncomfortable feeling, one she always does her best to avoid. But here, now, she feels that and something even more terrifying - helpless. Helpless against what's awoken inside of her. Helpless when it comes to offering assistance to her friend. Helpless when it comes to doing anything for herself.

It will get better, she knows it has to, but in her sleep deprived state it's hard to remember that silver lining.

"Oh. That's alright." Unaware of Amelia's self-criticisms, Viatorus continues to read and gather a couple of things. Even when he goes to rearrange the room, he uses magic to lift and move the coffee table and some of the chairs, bar the one with Amelia perched on top.

He opens the wooden boxes, pulling out several dark polished stones and setting them out along the invisible circle he's laid out on the floor. Holding out an open palm, he motions to the centre. "Make yourself comfortable."

After a few more artefacts are put along the circle, Viatorus vanishes and returns with another wooden box. It's only now that he settles, sitting down in front of Amelia, legs folded underneath him. "Are you alright?"

Once Viatorus motions for her to move in to the center of the circle of stones, she does so without a word. She kneels down slowly and sits back on her feet, her hands folding themselves in her lap again. She watches him dart about, but she doesn't offer her help or speak to him. It's only when he sits in front of her that she meets his gaze.

"Of course." A small, hollow smile pulls at her lips. She's lying. She's terrified. This is all so new and happening so quickly. This wasn't supposed to be like this. This was supposed to be a good thing. Why does it feel like she's done something so terribly wrong? "What do you need me to do?"

Small, hollow smiles are the masks of rich children used at political pawns. Viatorus spots it a mile away.

"It's fine, you know. Nothing can go wrong. Even I do this from time to time- Well... Not as often as I should," he admits sheepishly, though he's quick to add, "It's healthy, magically."

She sighs and shakes her head. He's trying to help and she knows it, but the way phrases all of that makes her feel even worse about this whole thing. "Let's just get this over with, Viatorus."

...wow, that came out horribly. Her gaze falls to the floor and her grip on her hands tightens. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."

Viatorus pulls back at the sharp reaction, eyes darting from place to place as he quickly works through it. "It's fine."

Taking a breath and opting to move instead of talk lest he get any more barbed words, he opens the box. It's full of dirt. "Cup your hands together, please."

His discomfort is obvious and she makes a mental note to do something to make it up to him later, once all of this is finished.

The dirt is... surprising, but she does as she's asked and keeps her mouth shut. There will be time to ask questions later, when she's sure she won't snap at him for an unjustified reason.

Bit by bit he shovels dirt into her hands. "Don't worry if it goes onto the floor. I'll have it cleaned tomorrow."

Once there's a good bit of dirt in her hands he takes a small obsidian disc and places it on the pile. "Ok, rest your hands where ever is comfortable. You can take more dirt from the box if you want to."

Then with a clenching and opening of his palm he summons an orb of light. It's pale blue, offering a soft light rather than a harsh one.

"I'm going to turn the lights off now, alright?"

This is by far the strangest thing Amelia's ever done in her life, but she tries not to let her vague curiosity show. Her hands are rested against her lap and as much as she wants to ask why she could possibly need more dirt, she doesn't. She still doesn't trust herself to speak without snapping at him.

When he summons the light, her eyes track its movements until he speaks again. She takes one last deep breath and lets it out slowly before nodding in answer. Her eyes meet his for a moment to make sure he understands the message: I trust you. Do what you think is best.

Witchcraft is always strange to those not accustomed to it and while not inherently linked to magic, it is extremely applicable, especially to a magical life. So Viatorus freely assumes she thinks this is some kind of ridiculous and hopes she finds it helpful.

The lights switch off without even a motion from Viatorus, leaving the two of them working by the glow of the magical light (because good blackout blinds are a must have for a dreamwalker). When Viatorus speaks he adopts a slightly different tone. It's the smallest notch deeper and steadier. Calm. Stable.

"This is a safe space," he informs her firmly. "Nothing can hurt you, nothing can hurt me. We are both safe."

A second passes before he continues. "I want you to close your eyes. Relax. Breathe slowly. Breathe deeply. In through the nose, out through the mouth." Quiet while he does the same. "Each breath deeper than the last." Another breath. "Breathe in as deeply as you comfortably can, and then exhale for as long as you comfortably can." He demonstrates, which she'll easily be able to hear. "Relax your body. Your head... your neck... shoulders... arms... fingers... Your back, your pelvis... your legs and feet. Relaxed."

He takes his time doing this. Setting the scene, making sure she really has relaxed her breathing before he proceeds. "How do you feel? What do you feel?"

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