i see the hazy sense unfold [ OPEN ]

[succored]

Who: Sora and new acquaintances!
When: Throughout
Where: Around the city, the Coven library.
What: Deliveries for Precogstichin', searching for mysterious animals in the city, and studying.
Warnings: Probably nothing, but will edit if anything comes up.

delivery for—
[ Fortunately, growing up and constantly traveling around a semi-claustrophobia-inducing city means Sora has a decent sense of direction and a good memory for buildings. But to use that memory, he has to learn first.

So he might be knocking on a few wrong doors. ]

Hi. Corset delivery.

in the library—
[ Having a practice only once a week isn't too often, but it does mean Sora has an actual schedule to follow that isn't intermittent shifts at a convenience store. He's trying to study as much as he can outside of class to make sure that he, and by extension Tora, are safe and prepared for whatever other weird stuff this world is going to throw at them.

And that means reading.

After some searching for words he can actually comprehend, Sora finds some books he thinks he can handle and carries them to a table. After only a few practices, he's struggling and visibly so. Magic isn't something he'd ever believed in.

Later, when he goes to return them to their places in the shelf, he's still looking down at the words when he rounds a corner and nearly walks into someone. ]

Oh. Sorry. [ He's just holding a stack almost up to his nose. ]

in the courtyard—
[ Sora's trouble with magic is manifesting in a more noticeable way, later in the Coven courtyard. He wants to protect himself with a barrier in theory. But what actually happens is the small amount of the magic in the barrier being redirected and shoving Sora back.

He falls on his butt with a quiet yelp. Embarrassing, but definitely not the most embarrassing thing that's happened to him. He starts getting up and dusting himself off. ]

Comments

[succored]

No, I just didn't see you.

[ Thus the great book disaster of... whatever year this is. Sora bends down to pick up the other books, gathering them too quickly to keep in mind that some of them aren't his. ]

Sorry.

[foursakes]

I suppose I am pretty small. [ she says, softly as she fetched another, now closer to him. with most of the books in hand, she holds her’s out to gently take it from him. ] Thank you, stranger— and you are carrying a fair many books yourself, aren’t you?

[succored]

[ He takes inventory of the books he has to figure out which ones are unfamiliar to return to her, and he's a little distracted as he replies. ]

Yeah... I'm trying to learn. About magic. [ Long pause. ] Because I'm supposed to have it now.

[ SIGH. ]

You too, right?

[foursakes]

Allow me.

[ she bows her head slightly, as if to ask for permission, before she’s taking some of his own books, to split the weight. she smiles and holds the books closer to her chest, stacking. ]

Y—yes, I am. [ and with a pause, ] I’ll help you take these. You may call me Four, by the way, Sir—?

[succored]

[ Sora adjusts to the change in weights, better able to wrap his arms around the stack now. ]

Just Sora. No 'Sir'. [ Eugh, that's freaky. ] ...did you want those books?

[foursakes]

—Sora, then.

[ there!! and awkwardly, four laughs under her breath, her shoulders lifting. ]

Ah, no— you’re carrying so many at once. I figured you could use the help, where ever you may be going.

[succored]

Oh. I was putting them back.

[ He just... stands still for a few seconds, squeezing one of the books at the bottom of the stack. ]

Thanks. You don't have to help if you're busy.

[foursakes]

[ that’s her sort of game, you know. four nods. ]

I suppose not . . . Yet, here I am. [ she was hoping for a study partner at most. let’s see— ] I was looking forward to studying with someone, but— that could wait.

[succored]

Oh.

[ Uhhh. Sora hovers, running his fingers lightly over the spines of the books for a few seconds, trying to decide if this is something okay for him to do. Studying together is totally new to him. ]

We could sit. But I don't know anything.

[foursakes]

[ ah, success! partially. ]

We can learn together. [ she sighs out shortly after. ] These are heavier than I realized— a table, then?

[succored]

[ Sora nods along, hefting the books up before he follows her directions over to a table. ]

Were you also trying to learn about magic? I only just got here.

[foursakes]

Oh— yes, in fact. [ four gestures to one of the books with her traveling eyes. ] It’s been soon for me as well, though, [ setting the books down, she flexes her fingers and waits for him to sit first. ] It’s never too early, or late, to learn.

[succored]

Mm. [ Sora quiets for a moment as stands above the chair. ] I've heard that before.

[ Once they find a place, he sets his own books to the side before picking up the one he'd been most interested in earlier. ]

I don't know if that's true. But the Witches here seem like they want us to do it.

[foursakes]

I understand. Hosts in a world so unfamiliar . . . I'd certainly give my guests the chance to learn our ways. Even moreso when they're deemed helpful.

Tell me, Sora. Have you any magical experience? Any at all.

[succored]

No.

[ Which is part of the reason why he feels distinctly unhelpful to everyone. ]

Do you? You were picking out all those books.

[foursakes]

Well . . . That's true, [ she pulls a book out closer to her. ] I possess a voice laced with magic, where I'm from. It has become rather fickle— but I know how to use it.

It shouldn't be so difficult with the rest. And, I'd gladly help you? From the ends of my heart.

[ . . . too forced?

nah. ]

[succored]

[ Admittedly, it's a lot of vocabulary that Sora hasn't heard before. "Fickle". "From the ends of my heart."

But fantasy books had to get it from somewhere, right? ]

Thanks. That's... nice of you. Did you learn to do spells, too?

[foursakes]

I have always known, [ she gestures to her throat ] my voice was once the source of many enchantments.

It’s . . . Mostly gone, since my arrival. Though not completely. [ that’s where she flips through some pages, and flicks her fingers across the book’s surface. ] I must relearn them here.

[succored]

[ Another person who had been a magic user mentioned something similar. Sora nods along, though he's not really looking at her, instead tracing the words with his fingertip to better learn them. ]

Does it feel different here? Your magic, I mean. Your voice.