"I'll be your assistant."

“Oh, me?  Pfft, I’m fine.”  Sylvia flapped her hand to wave away his concerns.  “I’ve done much more intensive running before.  I mean, one time I was being chased by Hell Hounds and I had to vault a tall wall.  That sure was adrenaline pumping.”  She plopped onto the ground next to him and folded her legs into a crossed position.

“Anyway, we can talk as much as you want.  I was just going to go for a walk; I didn’t really have anything important to do.  I’d much rather talk to someone about magic anyway.”  She leaned in closer and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.  “I don’t like talking about it around non-magic people much because they get a little weird about it.  At least in my experience.  Ask too many questions they can’t possibly understand and then uh–”  Despite the other being a magic user, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to bring her specialty up yet.

“Well, I just try to avoid it.”  She leaned back out again and flipped the book to a random page.  “Oh, this spell is interesting.  It turns your food or drinks different colors.  I used it to make Easter eggs when I was younger, but it also works for other occasions where funny colored food would be interesting.  You save a lot of money on food dye that’s for sure.”

“Oh, and before I forget.  My name’s Sylvia.”

Laurent let the matter drop when the maiden waved away his concerns (due in part to his laid-back nature) but still! He couldn’t help being worried when someone seemed that exhausted. It was best to pace oneself and take regular breaks (that included delicious food, hopefully) if running a distance, after all. Thoughts aside, the other times she’d ran along holding heavy tomes sure sounded...like something.

Very similar to many times at home he’d had to fight for the sake of all he held dear, but that was something he’d keep to himself. “If you’re alright with talking a long time - some folk tend to tell me when I’m excited that I have a tendency to strain their ears a bit, and I certainly don’t intend on being an annoyance. That being said - I’m glad that speaking of magic makes you feel more comfortable in such a curious environment as this.” 

If it reassured and made folk feel relaxed, it was a good thing! “Hm...so non-magic users tend to be a little oblivious here? Curious...it’s not like that back home - we lived in harmony with folk that were not mages and they assisted us in our weak points.” Why was it different in this realm, he wondered?

The speak of a spell that changed foods different shades was distracting, however. “Oh? That’s a spell that I’ve never heard of - did it make food taste even better than before? It might be a good way to assist others in a magical, food related way! Oh...I’m rambling a little there, my apologies. My name’s Laurent. It is nice to meet you.”

“You’re an elementalist?  My moms friend is an elementalist; those spells are always very fascinating.  But no, you didn’t spook me.  I’m actually excited to see someone else here using magic.  I thought I was on my own frankly…”  Although she wasn’t normally so trusting, the fact that she had no one else to study magic with currently was a real frustrating thing she was dealing with right now.  Besides, she was always willing to help a fellow witch out.

“Amusing tomes?  Oh, like fun spells?  Hmm…”  Well the book she had with her right now wasn’t going to be much help in that department.  It’d probably depress the poor guy if she even brought it up.  “I have a book back at my apartment that has tons of spells like that.  They’re mostly useless, but if that’s what you’re looking for…”  She stood up.  “I’ll be right back!”

Sylvia ran to her apartment and tore her room apart to find the book she was looking for; once it was located she jogged back to her new companion panting and dropped the book at his feet.  “It’s, hah, full of, hah, stuff you’ll, hah, like.”  She placed her hands on her knees and sucked in a big breath, finally managing to put her heart rate back to normal.

“Go ahead and check that out!  My favorite spell is about halfway through the book.  You can use it to set off mini fireworks that won’t burn anything, so I use it to celebrate when I finish something I really didn’t want to do.”

“Indeed I am - though I also hold knowledge of how to mix and create potions as well, so I guess you could call me a ‘jack’ of different trades as far as matters go? I try to learn of as many different magics as I can in order to use the sciences of them to aid others - so any chance I get to do that is really nice.”

A small, but eager nod - Laurent then musing: “I apologize if I’m rambling a little overly, but I’m quite relieved to see a fellow mage myself, so I suppose I can’t help but want to speak a lot with you...if that’s alright, that is. I hardly wish to keep you too long...” It’s evident the tall male is just as relieved to not be alone as the other is, really. This aside, when the topic of amusing tomes came about, he nodded in confirmation to show the stranger had gotten her guess right.

“Spells that seemingly have no battle purpose at all, yes - so ‘mostly useless’ would be an apt way of describing the-” Oh, he...wasn’t expecting her to run off right there and then to get the tome. A slow blink. He’d wait for her, humming in a laid-back manner: but it was a surprise nonetheless. Another slow blink was given at the tome being practically dropped at his feet.

Onyx was resting outside near the potted plants. It preferred being here than rather inside. Inside was more cramped and Morgan had to use the tiny application on the weird device. It was not… very fun when it had turned tiny and smaller. It happened to like it’s original size quite fine, thank you very much.

Their young man was sitting down at something called a ‘bench’, only a few feet away. He was writing away at a furious pace in the dusty empty book about something. The horse couldn’t quite understand what he was writing on exactly, but left him be. It could take a rest for now and will waken upon the need of it’s boy.

It’s eyes closed looking as if it was sleeping still, but it could still hear. There was someone coming by near them. But this someone were taking their time so it let down it defense, for now. As it’s about to close their eyes again, this person comes towards their way speaking to them. Well, that’s… a familiar voice for sure. It snorts as it opens its eyes, to tell Morgan someone they know is here.

Morgan blinked at the sudden snort from Onyx, stopping his writing immediately. He got up holding his book walking towards where his horse was resting to see a familiar figure petting them. Oh! A grin came upon his face as he walked near.

“Laurent! I see that you are here as well? Hopefully in good shape and health, of course!”

Ah - did he awaken Morgan’s companion by accident? He was so enthralled on seeing a familiar face - two of them, as matter of fact - perhaps he had approached a little too quickly for Onyx to wake up or Morgan to note his closeness, but thankfully Onyx alerted Morgan to his approach and nobody was startled!

That was positive! “Indeed, I am: truth be told, many of the ‘magic’ in this realm has me curious and bewildered - but I am doing well. Even better on seeing two good friends here, yes yes!” Though normally, Laurent rambled a lot - with someone like one of the future kids as Morgan talking to him, he relaxed this and spoke in a more laid-back sort of manner. Well, as ‘laid back’ as Laurent could be, anyway.

“Did you and Onyx just arrive through the Outrealm Gates to this realm recently? I didn’t see anyone else come through the gates with me for this visit...” In all honesty, Laurent didn’t come here because of some strange pairing project - it was really to keep an eye on portals connected to Yilesse through the Outrealm Gates, to see if they held any potential dangers.

(( ✾  ✾ ))  ――――

                             if mairuka went by makihime ’s advice : pick the best plant that glitters whenever the rain touches it, they say it’s calming and inspiring to look at when you’re down! if it was reira ’s : pick one that has another use other than it looking pretty, some can be used for craftwork. if kaiden ’s : pick one that you know you’ll actually take home and not bring back five seconds later, mairu. the list goes on and on , and their advisory paraded around in her mind as she found herself shopping for one for home ( she’s sure by now ookurikara is begrudgingly getting used to the many things being brought back through the door — or just with a bag in her hand! ) : so many have stuck out and encapsulated attention , as if pleading for her to take them home.  ❝ makine had a book on flowers and their meanings , now would have been best to use that. ❞ regret surfaced briefly, slowly but surely dispersing once sight fell upon another patron performing a staring contest with one of the shelves nearby ; ah, how she could sympathize , this happened the other day! 

some form of assistance was imminent , ❝ unable to decide? ❞ perhaps she mistakenly snapped the male out of appeared reverie, which she acknowledged by falling into a transient bow and brandishing a smile , ❝ forgive me , I noticed you seemed to be either in deep thought or just unsure , I can try to help you sort out your decisions if needed. ❞

Laurent could not help but sigh in mild annoyance at all of this: he needed to look at the plants to see what variety they had for sale, yet on seeing so many wonderful varieties to pick from, he couldn’t choose - a vicious circle that held him entrapped quite well, indeed. This certainly wouldn’t do, otherwise he’d be standing here all day and never making a decision: yet so many of them sounded like wonderful plants to have he really couldn’t make his mind up.

A voice cut him away from that long ever-lasing stare to the shelving of plants, he turning to face the stranger and nodding in response: ah, had his indecision truly been so obvious? Then again, he had been standing there for goodness knew how long already. “I seem to be having a bit of trouble doing so, yes...you needn’t apologize at all, really. If it helps me to pick a plant instead of getting in other people’s ways when they need to pick plants too, I would greatly appreciate any assistance you have to offer.”

The apartment was getting stuffy again, so Sylvia decided to find a quiet place to look through her spell book.  She didn’t really have anything to add at this point – she’d had very little time to experiment now that she was barred from bringing anything even remotely dead into the apartment – but it was comforting to just look through.  She exited her apartment building and began walking through the complex when she noticed someone sitting just outside the main area.

She slowed her pace when she saw the book in their hand.  Their outrageously large hat was very reminiscent of an old school witch costume.  She wanted to laugh, but honestly she had a lot of respect for someone who could so easily walk outside with that ridiculous but classic ensemble.  Upon noticing he was speaking incantations to himself she gripped her own tome tightly.  She didn’t know another magic user was bopping around Koi.

For a moment she was unsure if she should approach the stranger or not.  She personally would’ve been beyond annoyed if someone bothered her while she was practicing magic, but at the same time she was burning to know what kind of magic the other studied.  After a few careful moment of consideration she crept towards him, moving her own book behind her back.

“Hello, I couldn’t help but notice that nice rainbow of yours and was wondering…”  She dropped into a squatting position and placed her book at her feet, she rested her arms on her knees.  “So what kind of magic do you do?”

Though a rather useless spell as far as ‘use’ came along - in Laurent’s mind, the spell made him happy, so he wouldn’t call it a waste of time to cast it as he tried to collect his line of thought. Focusing on the tiny incandescent object in his hands, he moved his fingers around a little and watched the multiple colors flicker around his hand move and shimmer. So focused on the spell was he that he didn’t notice the other creep towards him.

That was, until she actually spoke, and his eyes widened in shock behind his glasses - he closed his hands together faster than a snake moving to bite it’s prey, the spell vanishing in an instant as he did so. G-goodness, that had alarmed him. Bowing his head a moment in apology, ready to try and explain gently the ‘magic’ had been nothing bad: he was most surprised indeed to hear the other was not alarmed by magic.

Rather, it was the opposite. “Ah? It did not startle you? I was worried my magic might spook those of this realm - but I mostly use elemental magic, though I also own wonderfully amusing tomes as the rainbow one. Most of the amusing ones were lost, in truth, so I was wondering who I could ask to find more...”