trade my soul for a wish

[from_scratch]

This is a successor to "call me maybe", which is getting crowded.

Cam is dipping a grilled cheese sandwich into a bowl of tomato soup when he feels the summons. He goes ahead and grabs it. Doesn't even drop the sandwich.


with Mark (kappa)

with Adanya (Aestrix)

with Sable (kappa)

with Ari (andaisq)

with Metella (kappa)

with Miles (kappa)

with Isabella (Eva)

with Steel (Rockeye)

with Daphne (Maggie)

with Edie (Maggie)

Comments

[from_scratch]

"How many hours a day do people usually invest?"

[kaolinandbone]

"In the academies? Eight. For people like us who do not sleep, the process can be accelerated significantly. I acquired my first Memnos in three years, rather than the usual five."

[from_scratch]

"I don't sleep, but I'm very subject to boredom. Maybe I should rig up something that records me and beeps if I deviate from the pattern? That might get me into a groove quicker."

[kaolinandbone]

"The method doesn't matter, only the resulting form. If it works for you, do it. Personally, I find the process meditative: it's something useful to do with my time when I would normally be asleep, and it effectively prevents me from becoming preoccupied with stress. I've practiced for so long now that I can find the flow almost instinctually. In that space, there is only myself and the form."

[from_scratch]

"I've tried meditating. It doesn't really work for me. I'll put up with it to get more magic, but seeing as I'm immortal I might want to spread it out a bit. Well, we'll see."

[kaolinandbone]

"You would probably learn to enjoy meditation as well, if you were incapable of sleeping."

[from_scratch]

"I honestly don't sleep most of the time. Sometimes if I'm bored with all my projects and don't have a new one lined up, or I'm sick of being that little bit jittery I get on the relevant dose of caffeine, but not more than a couple times a month unless I'm on a really boring summon with a tight binding. I feel like my life would not substantially change if sleeping became impossible instead of optional except that I'd drink less coffee. I thrive on things to do. Hell's kind of short on meaningful things to do but I can still learn stuff and read and play games and perform experiments and correspond with people and see what the summoners have for me to do. And fly! Flying is great."

[kaolinandbone]

"Flying is great. But because I combust in sunlight, I'm often inconveniently stuck indoors. Practicing my Memni helps me avoid frustration and relax. That and books. Books are wonderful."

[from_scratch]

"Books are lovely. It'll be nice to have access to an entire new set. I usually do summoning work in exchange for lists of books and music and so on to conjure at home but it's slow going finding anything really good that way."

[kaolinandbone]

"I'll be happy to direct you to some of my favorite books in the card catalog."

[from_scratch]

"Spiffy."

[kaolinandbone]

"Would you prefer fiction or nonfiction?"

[from_scratch]

"Nonfiction to start with, get my bearings."

[kaolinandbone]

Isabella opens a nearby door into a large library, two stories of books filling every wall. A brass-and-crystal chandelier puffs to life as she switches on the gas.

"This is my nonfiction library. What subject would you be most interested in? I maintain a large section on the state of the medical art, but I also have smaller ones for other scientific works, biographies and so on that interest me."

[from_scratch]

"I want to say history, overview maybe, but if you've got major historical figures whose lives make a good vantage point from which to observe what-all else I'll take those too."

[kaolinandbone]

She pulls out a slim volume from one shelf.

"Here we are. 'A Short History of Hastum and the Lands Therein, Being the Heart of Civilization.' Pretentious and opiniated, but at least broadly factual, and a decent read. I have the distinct impression Marcus S. wishes Lupinia never fell."

She offers the book with one hand, while her eyes scan the shelf for another.

"And... here, something more contemporary to give you a handle on the current political situation. 'An Empire of Brothers and an Empire of Sons', by T. H. Kaita." She offers the book: the cover depicts a man with a bayonetted rifle astride a warhorse, pointing the muzzle at an elegant serpent that coils through the sky above him.

[from_scratch]

"Excellent, this should keep me busy for a couple hours."

[kaolinandbone]

Isabella smiles.

"Would you like anything more, or are those two enough for you?"

[from_scratch]

"May as well load me up with a whole stack."

[kaolinandbone]

Isabella turns back to the bookcase, flitting upwards slightly on her not-wings to browse the upper levels.

"Hmm. Hmm. Yes, this. And this. Alright."

She alights, cradling an unsteady stack of four thick volumes under one arm.

"Here we are. 'Breaking the Pack: The Fall of Lupinia.' As you would expect from the title, about how the old Lupine empire finally collapsed. 'One Sun, One Heart.' A theological and cultural history of Grand Victoria. 'City of Light, City of Darkness.' About the failed attempts to colonize Ulvenwald, and the rise of the free city-state of Eyesocket. 'An Account of Tribal Customs', by Leon Zaya - the most plausible-seeming book I've ever been able to find on the shamanistic practices and customs of the New Lupinians and Ulvenwalders, though it is far more a travelogue than a historical study."

[from_scratch]

"Eyesocket?"

[kaolinandbone]

"Yes, Eyesocket. It has a much more respectable formal name, which came along later - I believe 'Illumine' or some such - but the frontier town was founded on the site of a successful direwolf slaughter, in a small circular valley that may have been a dried-up lakebed. Hence the original name. It's really quite an interesting story: the colony was founded in large part by scientists and innovators hoping to be free of Victorian strictures, particularly the indictment of any form of autopsy as desecrating remains... but scientific skills do not a survivalist make. The colony foundered, and 'Illumine' is not worth addressing by that title anymore. Hence the common lapse back to the name of the original frontier town."

[from_scratch]

"Is autopsy illegal hereabouts today, still?"

[kaolinandbone]

"Not anymore, thankfully. There has been significant progress on multiple social fronts since the Empress Hikari took power. That said, people will find you distasteful at best if you admit to cutting up corpses." There's a wry twist to her voice.

[from_scratch]

"I hope they're practicing decent hygiene. Corpses are very informative things but sometimes people who die turn out to have been sick."