chalk

[alicornucopia]

In Paraasilan, Esmaar, a pair of roommates are about to break a rule that, compared to the one about running in the corridors or even the one about unlicensed teleportation, is there for a good reason.

In unison, they complete their shared spell.

~~~

with Adarin (Aestrix)

with Ekador (kappa)

with Brilliance (kappa)

with the admin (kappa)

with Teah (kappa)

with Katran (lambda)

with Hall (kappa)

with Joy (kappa)

with Kalinda (Christy Hotwater)

Comments

[alicornucopia]

She keeps her hearing.

She picks up the paper and speaks to it.

She follows it to a room, and knocks.

[aeskhyne]

...He didn't expect that. She's following her magic - to - him?

He looks at the human sleeping in the room. He wouldn't have picked the kid out of a crowd, before now - not that he would've gotten the chance, he supposes, unless it was a crowd of sleeping people. But—



"Mmf?" says the boy, finally waking up to the sound of the knock. "Huh? Summony kid, that you?"

[alicornucopia]

"...Do you not speak Leraal?" Leekath asks in Leraal. "Do you speak vampire?" she tries in vampire. The paper has vampire writing on it.

[aeskhyne]

"I can't understand a damn word you're saying," he says. Still in English. "Uh, come in, I guess? You probably can't understand a word I'm saying either."

[alicornucopia]

She cannot, indeed, understand a damn word he's saying.

She has a sheet of paper and a pencil in her pocket, though, so if she can get him to write they can still talk. If he won't try it she can go look up a spell. She knocks again.

[aeskhyne]

He yawns and gets up and blanketshuffles to the door and opens it.

"Hi. You're not summony girl," he says.

[alicornucopia]

She offers him the paper and the pencil.

[aeskhyne]

He looks bewildered.

[alicornucopia]

She mimes writing, then repeats the offer. She's not prepared to believe he's illiterate, even if he can't understand spoken vampire.

[aeskhyne]

Okay. Sure.

He takes the paper and pencil, and goes to sit on the edge of the bed where his blanket will be in its natural habitat if it falls away from his shoulders, and puts the paper on the desk and writes: What?

In English.

[alicornucopia]

She listens, then decides that if he doesn't know why she's here one-way communication is not going to suffice. She makes a frustrated gesture and leaves to go look up a translation spell.

[aeskhyne]

"Uh... bye?"

That was weird. That was extremely weird.

Into bed he re-flops. But he's not as sleepy now. Confusion is not renowned for its sedative properties.

[alicornucopia]

Leekath is back a degree later with a book in hand. She knocks again.

[aeskhyne]

He opens it.

"Hi, mysterious pencil person."

[alicornucopia]

She rolls her eyes at him, and casts a translation spell. "There. I thought you would know why I was there and one-way communication would do it. But now we can just talk."

[aeskhyne]

"Why would I know why you were here? Why are you here? I am the most confused I have ever been in my life," he says.

[alicornucopia]

"You made me this," she says, handing him the little bit of paper.

[aeskhyne]

He turns it over to read - well, look at - both sides. He can't actually read either one. He's not even sure the Draconic symbol is writing.

"I did? I'm pretty sure I didn't," he says. "What's it say?"

[alicornucopia]

"The symbol on the back is pronounced 'Teah' but I think it's Draconic since I don't know what it means, but the words on the front are 'for you', in vampire. And it says you made it."

[aeskhyne]

"...That's... weird on so many levels I'm not sure I can count them," he says. "I don't speak vampire. I definitely can't read or write vampire. I've never prayed for a little paper with wings in my life. And it has my name on it. Well, the name I picked ten minutes ago when somebody asked me for one. Still my name, sort of."

[alicornucopia]

"Prayed for?" asks Leekath.

[aeskhyne]

"That's - how magic works in my world. You wish or pray for things, and sometimes you get them. I've heard it's different here, though. But I haven't made it any non-magical way either, and I feel like I'd remember doing that, and I have no idea who you are and no way of getting little paper circles to you if I made them, so 'made a weird wish and forgot about it' is at least slightly more plausible."

[alicornucopia]

"It's different here," she confirms. "Or it was, anyway. But a couple degrees ago I got a - a choice if I wanted to keep some magic I have, or not, and I kept it, and I also got this little piece of paper, and the magic I kept lets me hear what objects say, and this paper says you made it, and they're never wrong."

[aeskhyne]

"...Well, were you praying?"

[alicornucopia]

"More wishing than praying, really, my God doesn't go in for this sort of thing, does wishing count?"