You're Weird...

And just how, in the name of God, was he supposed to fit everything he needed into this one teeny-tiny pathetic little cupboard? Was he supposed to have some sort of magical ability to bend space and time to fit his will? Or was he supposed to leave it all on the counter where it would get smashed by careless people?

Henry shook his head as he stood up. The kettle had just finished boiling, and that at least would give him some respite from this ... nightmare.

Except.

Right.

He heard the tell-tale slam of a firedoor, and looked down, straightening his shirt a little as he stood up. First of the new flatmates, right, well. Best foot forward Sta- ... Westergard, he told himself sternly.

She was currently trying to find the cold items that she'd picked up at the Moon Market that needed to go in her area of the communal fridge when she was startled by a presence nearby. At least the guy had the decency to wait til she saw him to start speaking.

"Fly with you, Henry. I'm Dot, Lottie's roommate." She reached out her hand to shake his back, making sure that the grip was firm so he wouldn't think she was going to roll over. "Move-in going alright?"

“Dottiana!!!!” Lottie jumped in the air flailing hoping to not get snatched up!

Landing like a baby deer on ice she was able to get away from the other girls grasp. Stumbling she got her footing and hugged the ball now running the other direction. Long curly blonde locks waving in the wind behind her.

After getting a good start she looked back over her shoulder - “How long do I run before I score!!!”

"Get to the goalpost, Lottie! You're almost there!" Which, she was, and Dot was pretty impressed by that. Dot was trying to catch up, really, but she was sort of admiring Lottie's form rather than giving it her all.

"Spoor!"

It was a little bit of a different world living in town.

"People aren't really born with a set role in life if you're a sorcerer; you can be a sorcerer as a job but most of them also have jobs outside of that. It's probably a little closer to the idea that you know when you're living or in Arcadia like other elves, but I'm not; I can't really live there because I am partly human."

Ian chuckled though at her assessment. "I don't look a lot like an elf, no; my brother takes after that side of the family more than I do. And my magic is kind of somewhere in the middle, which means I have to learn how to do sorcerer spells and figure out how the other part of my magic works with that."

Anar hadn't been certain what to think of the idea of Arcadian beings living in the mortal realm, most simply dismissing it as losing touch with what they were. And it might have been that a little, the fairy did not exude the sort of stronger magic they're kind of ones had in Arcadia, but it was easy to sense the different sort of magic, perhaps one that had adjusted itself to that place where magic was so thinly spread over all those generations.

'They were very large in Arcadia, what you call Hollows, occupied entire forests sometimes. Now those forests are quieter.' Anar noted; Even she wasn't certain why the fairies had left, perhaps the oldest of them might still know, but certainly not the very young one in front of her.

'You share this forest?' Something else she found surprising, the idea that once-Arcadian beings were to live alongside mortal beings rather than be at the top of the hierarchy. Perhaps not in Arcadia since the elves held that position but the mortal realm? Surprising fairies hadn't come to that place for that reason.

"Well that sounds.. interesting. I guess not every fairy follows specifically what their Talent is but it's kind of easier to do it. You're already good at it, already know that you'll succeed, so why not go with that, right? I thought sorcery was similar but I understand what you're saying. And your magic seems.. unique."

Dot didn't want to be unique, not like that. Atta was as close to unique as most fairies got. Well, Atta, Clarion, and Milori as Royal Talents.. Then Zero with his Decay Talent as well. They were precious. Dot was just another Scout. Sometimes she questioned if she wanted to be more like Atta but that seemed like a lot of work right then to be so... rare.

"I've never heard of that place," Dot confirmed with a frown. "I know all about our Hollow life here but Arcadia?" She wasn't sure she even said the name properly. "Yeah, that's not something I know anything about. Clarion might, she's the queen, but.." Now she made a note to ask more questions.

Anar seemed so curious, something she could relate to. Dot always had questions, even when she didn't ask them aloud. "Yes we share the forest. Enchantra is home to many creatures, magical and otherwise. And if you go deeper still you'll find the trolls and the gummi bears."

"Ah, not a blackthumb, then," he teases, tone good natured. He'd heard many cruel names for fairies in his time, but this was one he was fairly (no pun intended) sure was less offensive and more humorous. "Pardon the question, but why learn to fly in town? If you're Scouting for the Hollow?"

Winston knew enough that he could get by, but he was no expert. His work merely rubbed elbows with these groups, as had he when he was a lad.

She answers his question moments later, and Winston chuckles quietly to himself at it. "That makes sense, I suppose. But why, really, would you fly everywhere? Do you not walk in a larger, ah, human shape? Because for us - no it isn't. We don't have wings, so it's not something we could miss."

"I prefer not to walk, no," Dot answered. "I like flying. I'm good at it, even if I crash sometimes. It feels better than walking. It's like being limitless." She could almost feel the itch to fly again creeping into her shoulders. Being clumsy-sized always felt like she was walking on stilts. Her balance was better, her body adjusted, but there was something about it that she wasn't sure she'd ever be fully used to.

Dot pulled her hand back from the one she was about to touch at his warning, a sheepish smile pulled across her face. "Sorry!" She sidestepped to the one he had mentioned, reaching out to touch the soft leaves there instead. "They're all so beautiful."

As she studied Ian, Ian felt that old flicker of anxiety over being scrutinized, how frightening it had been early on in his childhood, but it wasn't the same thing anymore, he kept reminding himself of that truth.

"You're not going to find a whole lot to tell the difference on the surface; my dad was human and I take a lot more after him than I do my elven mom."

That thought didn't haunt him as much as it used to, maybe because he had grown past the age where he looked in the mirror and searched for signs of his father rather than seeing himself. Most of the time anyway.

"Well, with elves it's a little different. Spells are easier to define but magic that just as a part of you is sometimes very subtle." Other times apparently he could coax trees into spikes and bring down dragons. "I think for the most part a lot of what I get from that side is more stability and strength behind the magic I put into being a sorcerer, and the way I perceive people. I can't really tell what they're feeling, but sometimes it's that sense of awareness that is a little sharper than what it should be."

Anar regarded him for a moment in a scrawling 'that will change with time' response before she looked back to the fairy.

'I am from the place all fairies began; it's strange to see that you have not changed very much over all the long centuries.' She thought them quite familiar, in fact, and really thought the mortal realm would have taken away so much of what they were. 'You still have your Hollows then and your magic from your trees.'

Dot was fascinated by his responses, wondering what it could be this guy was doing with his time. Wandering around the woods not necessarily to practice magic but because of a magic-related creature. It was almost dizzying to think about debating this. "If you're an elf then you should be, like, way more like us than the clumsies, right? Like, magically? I can see you look like a clumsy. I mean, you don't look bad!"

Dot had never been very good at small talk that didn't involve school or Hollow life. This was painful. Thankfully Anar had much more to talk about!

"Wow, I'd love to learn way more about that! Or, like, our Storytelling Talents would probably be better at that than I am since I'm not too... good.. at history stuff but.." Dot winced, really wishing she hadn't come out here alone. "But! Yes! Hollows are still home base for most fairies!" She reached into her pocket, showing off her pixie dust. "See?"

– It’s a bee! – I know! 

Lottie’s mind floated through all her internal questions as she distracted herself. It was only until Sor said she would chase her that she snapped back into focus.

With a loud scream Lottie started to run away from Dot. Like a scared littler Pomeranian she darted across the field still screaming!

Dot was athletic, talented, and naturally gifted at doing physical labor. Lottie was clearly built for more sedentary life.

Lottie was a good roommate, and a good sport, to tolerate this.

That didn't mean she was gonna take it easy on Lottie, though. Dot leaped forward, trying to tackle the blonde girl. "Not so fast!"

I can do magic like a sorcerer though, yeah, and mostly I do animation sorcery." He didn't mind the question, although that was a far cry from years ago when he would have found it awkward to even try to talk about it, feeling like he didn't really know enough about it either. "And I have some magic that's like fairy talents, since I'm fae too, magic I don't really need spells for."

Anar dipped her head at the words, as though in agreement, and Ian supposed it was the abilities that came from his elven side that appealed more to her.

But her curiosity was centered on the fairy.

'Before this place.' She noted, but the fairy in question wouldn't really know much about that, she looked far too young and even with their very long lives mortal fairies would not have been around long enough to have known Arcadia. A pity really, that. 'I had wondered if it was true about where they had gone.'

The mortal realm was a corrupt place, if one were to believe such things. She found it lacking in magic and rather confining but hard to believe so much corruption existed in such an excess. But perhaps that could be found out in the larger world she had yet to see.

"What sorts of things do you do that aren't... sorcery...?" She stepped closer, eyeing him for all of those small tells that would indicate that he was more than just a human. There were signs, subtle unless one had an idea for what to look for, but Dot now felt like she needed to know more about this guy's deal. Dot knew little about any sort of hybrid situations, her life in the Hollow rather isolated from how the magic could mingle in the wider world.

Dot was more interested, however, in what Anar had to say. She read the words on her paper-like skin like someone who had never seen a sunset before. It was fascinating, the way she worked. "Well if you have questions about the Hollow or what pixie life is like I can maybe answer? Depending on, y'know, how detailed you're looking for."

Her bedazzled nails slowly made their way up to the side of her head as she thought about it.

She could not risk a concussion! Lottie had to perform tomorrow!

“I uh…” The trooper that she is doubled down again and just went with it. “Okay! Sorry girl I am trying to put it all together! Have to cut me some slack I am not much of a sports girl!” That cut at herself was only followed by a giggle.

Skipping one foot infront of the other Lottie went out into the grass and did her on version of the bend and snap to pick up the ball. Hugging it to her chest like an American football she struck a little Heisman pose. “My second cousin Ricky plays for LSU back in like 2014. Daddy said he was a stud until he tore somethin’ in his knee.”

With the ball still tight to her chest she smile at Dot. “So what I just run away from you and you’ve got to try to get this…I can start running!”

"I won't tackle you too hard," Dot tried to joke. "I'll even stay clumsy-size, that way I won't be as fast as I am when I'm pixie-sized." She did get frustrated with her lack of grace at the larger size, this body was so much harder to navigate than her smaller stature.

Whatever that move was Lottie made with the ball had Dot snickering. It wasn't meant to be mean, just that Dot had never seen anything like it. It was cute. Dot hoped Lottie would do it again later.

"Yep! You start running!" Dot probably would have explained more to someone genuinely interested in joining the sport but she didn't want to overload Lottie's senses.

And with that, Dot attempted to pounce on her roommate to get the ball!

Bit of both. Never been much of a town fairy.

Winston thinks of Bobb and Gary and their girls and snorts softly, nodding his head. "Ah, well. If you'd want a bit more space,m for that, there's some wider streets a bit further up Main," he says, gesturing with a hand before leaning agaisnt the wall.

They've mocmved inside now and he's shut the door softly behind them, the shop quiet but not eerily so.

Thinking about it for a second, Winston nods. "That I am. I volunteer here quite often. Flower's a good sort."

And they were, was the thing. Winston loved volunteering here.

"Flower, right," she nodded. "I've heard of them. I'm a Scout Talent so I'm not the worst with plants but I'm no Garden Talent, you know?" She wondered how much this man knew about Talents. Some of the clumsies seemed to know more than Dot would expect.

"I go to Pride University so I figured practicing in town wouldn't be the worst idea. It's so much easier to navigate by flying than walking. I don't understand how you clumsies deal with always having to walk everywhere! Isn't that exhausting?"

He honestly wasn't certain if that came from the connection between himself and Anar or if it was something residual from the open side of his magic again.

"We're not really doing anything right now, she just wanted to see the forest," Ian explained; Enchantra wasn't somewhere he very often would do magic, not that he did much of it on a day-to-day basis anyway, but it was already home to so many magical creatures he didn't really want to infringe.

'I have not seen a fairy in a very long time.' Anar interjected with a flutter of words across her outstretched wings.

If she just wanted to see the forest, Dot wondered why he didn't go to the more populated areas. Or, well, maybe she was shy around people still. Dot knew that crowds that weren't fairies tended to be a little overwhelming. Even just campus sometimes felt way too big and cramped.

Dot noticed the words dancing across Anar's wings and smiled softly. "Well, we've been here a long time. We all work together to take care of the Hollow. My sister's even a Royal Talent!" She said it cheerfully, even if she had some complicated emotions about that especially now. "If you have any questions I can try to answer."

We need to be nice. We need to be polite. This is good for you. Dot is a friend. We need to be into what our friends are into.

With a half forced shrug Lottie nodded her head. A little scared truthfully. "Do you think I need to take some layers off?!" She started to unzip the zip up jacket. There really was no reason for her to get that dirty right? "I have a tshirt and a tank on."

As she unzipped the gold zipper she shivvered a bit. "I know its cold but I hate sweating." Lottie did not care how crazy and prissy that made her sound. There was nothing worse than being over dressed and hot. "You know what I am just going to take it off." She nodded again clearly having this internal argument with herself. Tossing it aside she clapped her hands. "Okay. I think I am ready. So what do we do..."

"Uh, if you're not gonna be uncomfortable you could take it off. Otherwise it might be good to keep it on in case. I don't want you to freeze, petal." She knew that she didn't get nearly as cold as some of the clumsies did in the more frigid weather but she wasn't sure how Lottie would react to being cold and sore.

If she hates sweating then this is gonna be brutal.

"Okay, so normally this is a very team-based sport but this is all just for practice and for fun so we're not gonna worry about passing. Instead, we're gonna try to each get the ball away from the other and bring it to the opposite side of the field to the goal area. I hear it's a lot like... American football?"

"I'm a sorcerer, yes," Ian nodded, "she helps me sometimes." But he didn't view it as Anar being a tool like a wand or a potion; quite a bit of difference in a living creature. "But that's mostly because she wants to."

If she didn't, from what he understood about elven familiars, she would have made his life far more complicated.

"I've been here often, but it is very new to her," he explained, the color washing over Anar's parchment form pulsing golden with his words. The fairy was very curious to her; she recalled them from long ago in Arcadia, but they had left, quite abruptly, and she certainly couldn't imagine why one might do that.

Her choice had been more practical; folloYw her anchor, the strange elf was odd but his magic flowed strongly. The fairies choice to venture to a place where they had less magic? Odd.

"Oh, well, wonderful. Glad she's got the option to decline." Dot fiddled with her skirt before deciding being so small was only a disadvantage to her in this moment. She wasn't needing to flee, not yet, so being clumsy-size was probably best if this conversation was to continue.

Backing up, Dot used a small amount of pixie dust to grow to her "full size" which was unfortunately still not very tall in comparison to the blue-haired boy in front of her. How was it so many clumsies could stand to be so.. large? Dot always felt so odd at this size still.

"Well, do you require solitude for your.. magic.. or is company allowed?"