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

courtyard;

[auftauen]

[The minor crackle of the magic barrier draws her attention. Crymaria hadn't wanted to linger here, not when she has practicing of her own to do. The hot, tempting energy to cast during the new moon was bad enough: Gun-shy, now, she's hesitant to be around too much spellcasting.

What Sora experiences seems so much like some of the rebounds from unstable energy she dealt with after the snowstorm. Crymaria's own attempts at barriers had taken cast and cast again to feel reliable, though they'd never dumped her on the ground like that.

He's already back on his feet by the time she can walk over, but she still crosses the courtyard to make sure he isn't injured.]

You didn't hurt yourself with that stunt, did you?

[succored]

[ Sora is none the worse for wear physically, and mostly able to shrug off the awkwardness. ]

No. I was just trying... [ The simple spell he'd looked up. Er. ]

The practice wasn't really helpful because I don't know anything yet.

[auftauen]

[He looks fine. It's almost a relief to know that the magic's backfire wasn't enough to cause more harm than that, especially given the sparks and shocks she saw during the new moon. No one else will be hurt by his messing around, either.

Her expression is wry, but there's little happiness in it.]

Whatever else we can say about them, at least some Witches here are willing to teach us here.

You've just arrived, then I guess. I wouldn't worry about being unable to do too much at first. What were you attempting?

[succored]

[ It's true. The Witches seem unusually generous in that aspect, and Sora remains uncertain about their real motivations—but if this is what they're offering, he's going to take it. ]

Yeah. I was trying to learn the barrier spells... I don't know what else is here.

[auftauen]

Too much, some might say. Enchantments, evocations... something as simple as keeping a cup of coffee warm to something as dangerous as starting an inferno. Magic likely exists that can solve all problems...or most things.

[In an ideal world, anyway. If anything, the tensions between people here and the dangerous things that seem more and more imminent, the terrible dream of the burned-out city that might as well be a prescient nightmare... All they suggest to her is that the powers at work here are miserable and volatile.

Crymaria twists a piece of hair between her fingers nervously, contemplating what she'll say next. He's fine; she could just walk away. And yet...]

Is there something that you want to learn?

[succored]

[ For someone so wary, living his life as he has, this world is so strange that all of his usual ways to detect danger seem to be miscalibrated. People are just different here. Even something as simple as eating in a restaurant makes more differences crop up.

But people are surprisingly helpful, this one included. ]

Yeah... I want to learn the barrier spells so I can protect myself. And others. [ He remembers more proper manners, after a pause. ]

I'm Sora, by the way.