"Just cream, thank you," he smiles, a bit more easily now that he can put his game face back on. "I suppose I should let you know in advance the that my previous permanent warden did give me the full use of my powers back, but he did somewhat limit the range of my grimoire."
He pulls open his vest and reaches in, but she'll see the glow of another portal, and when he pulls his hand out he's holding a massive book - average in his hands, but something encyclopaedic to hers. "I learned the spell from my grimoire, but I've got it memorised to cast whenever I so please, these days. It was one of the first I learned, in fact!"
He rests the book on the table, both hands on it. "Mr Caffrey ensured that if someone else were to attempt to take it, it would be returned to me instantly. I believe he also ensured that any attempts to cast spells from the book would result in him being alerted - I assume this may have been transferred to you, now."
"I'll check," Lucy says, tilting her head to look at the tome. It looks appropriately large and magical and important. "What other kinds of limits did he ask for - you said range?"
"My apologies, I simply meant that." He gestures to the book. "That no-one else is allowed to touch my book in any capacity, and that I can't even allow for consensual lending of it. Not that I do it all that much to begin with - there's only one person on the ship who's ever laid hands on it otherwise."
"Honestly I do prefer not to," he admits. "It's still an extremely powerful magical artefact, and if someone learns how to read the demonic runes it's written in it could be utterly disastrous." His hands rest on it again, relaxed and neatly folded, not in the least bit possessive. "While my purview is predominantly of knowledge - prophecy and portals and such - it also allows me to be recognised for my authority, as it's a completely unique tome in all seven levels of Hell."
"Quite honestly, it hasn't presented itself as an issue, yet," he admits easily. "And if I ever were to teach anyone my own sorcery, I can simply show them the page. I'd have to actually teach them how to read it first, as well."
"Could you do that? Teach sorcery to someone else? This - isn't really a
warden-type question," Lucy admits, "I'm just curious. We don't have any
magic where I come from."
"Oh, I-" But he actually perks up a little, his smaller eyes relaxing with his smile. "I certainly can - I've been teaching my daughter, after all. And humans do have some capacity for magic, seeing as they're able to summon demons at all. Especially here, when all the known laws of magic seem to be incredibly flexible."
He gives a soft hoot of a laugh. "Nearly six months to the day, in fact. I was permanently paired the month after I arrived, but Mr Caffrey spent most of that in stasis after he restored my powers, and he finally vanished in September."
"Well, the rate at which wardens do or don't disappear here is sadly something even my prophetic abilities aren't able to predict," he says with an anxious, tittering laugh. "But it does make it somewhat difficult to have faith in the Admiral's decisions, to grant me someone that was predominantly absent."
"I wish I could promise you that that's not going to happen again," Lucy
says, frowning at her teacup. "But it's not our choice - I went back home
for a little while, before I planned to. What I can promise is that my
roommate will know right away if anything happens to me, and - I'll make
sure she knows to keep you in the loop, okay?"
Lucy just picks up the discarded shirt and goes about folding it carefully.
"Yep! You were paired with her temporarily, right?" Lucy says, glancing up.
Tendi's identity as her roommate is not a secret and she's not sure what
the look on his face is all about.
"That's right." He has to shift his legs a little to get comfortable again. "Our pairing actually interrupted it, she was due to be paired with me until the middle of the month."
"I suppose we are... friends, in a sense." Even if the term is a bit loaded for him, Tendi is... nice, in a way he's not used to receiving, but- likes, despite himself. "I'll admit I was reticent towards her acting as my warden, but she offered that instead, and it... I suppose it became a bit easier to keep speaking with her in that regard."
"I'm... not sure, actually." Both hands wrap around his cup to grip it a little. "I suppose I never really thought people could be both to their own inmate. It just seemed... unseemly."
He tilts his head slightly. "Well, you're my superior. Fraternising with your lessers like that is something rather frowned upon in most circles of Hell."
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arsegoetia) wrote2024-04-29 04:01 pm
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She ferrets out cream from the refrigerator and brings it over to the table with spoons and saucers, then takes a seat.
"Your grimoire," she echoes, handling the unfamiliar word with care. "Is that what you use to move around the ship like you did just now?"
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He pulls open his vest and reaches in, but she'll see the glow of another portal, and when he pulls his hand out he's holding a massive book - average in his hands, but something encyclopaedic to hers. "I learned the spell from my grimoire, but I've got it memorised to cast whenever I so please, these days. It was one of the first I learned, in fact!"
He rests the book on the table, both hands on it. "Mr Caffrey ensured that if someone else were to attempt to take it, it would be returned to me instantly. I believe he also ensured that any attempts to cast spells from the book would result in him being alerted - I assume this may have been transferred to you, now."
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"I'll check," Lucy says, tilting her head to look at the tome. It looks appropriately large and magical and important. "What other kinds of limits did he ask for - you said range?"
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Lucy looks uneasy for a moment.
"Do you want to be able to lend it out to other people? Here, I mean."
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Lucy nods.
"Okay. So I'll make sure that's still the case. Is there anything else you want me to check up with the Admiral, or anything you need?"
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"Could you do that? Teach sorcery to someone else? This - isn't really a warden-type question," Lucy admits, "I'm just curious. We don't have any magic where I come from."
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"I've gotten the impression that different places have different rules for how their magic works, but they all work here," Lucy agrees.
Their tea will be ready now, she's sure, and goes to pour a cup for each of them.
"How long have you been here, Stolas?"
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"Oh - gosh, I'm sorry," Lucy says, and means it. "That can't have been easy."
She gets that inmates wanting to graduate isn't universal. That he did, but didn't have a warden to support him? That's tough. Unfair, even.
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"I wish I could promise you that that's not going to happen again," Lucy says, frowning at her teacup. "But it's not our choice - I went back home for a little while, before I planned to. What I can promise is that my roommate will know right away if anything happens to me, and - I'll make sure she knows to keep you in the loop, okay?"
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"This roommate wouldn't happen to be Officer Tendi, would it?" he coos, as he drops it in Lucy's lap.
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Lucy just picks up the discarded shirt and goes about folding it carefully.
"Yep! You were paired with her temporarily, right?" Lucy says, glancing up. Tendi's identity as her roommate is not a secret and she's not sure what the look on his face is all about.
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"Oh - of course." 'Interrupted' sounds like it's a bad thing, so she delves in a little: "The two of you get on pretty well, then?"
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Lucy smiles.
"...I'd like to be both. Your warden and your friend. Do you think that's possible?"
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Her smile fades, replaced by something more cautious and curious.
"Why unseemly?"
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