fifthofthecovenant | The Last Voyages: IC Contact

[He's grumpy, is what he is. He got dragged through that whole thing and he didn't have any idea how it worked! So unfair!

Also, a little disturbed by his friendly-kid mask made briefly real. And missing his spiders, dammit. What a dumb thing to take out of an experience like that, the companionship of arachnids who aren't even proper demon things with brains.

But he dredges up a tired-but-okay-sounding tone for Misty. Gotta keep the facade up. And try to figure out if she's thinking there's some kind of actual connection because there was one in the breach. (Should there be? How does this even work?)]

Yeah, I think so. A little weirded out, but I guess it could've been worse?

People can react really strongly to them - especially their first, especially if it's their first anything on board. You didn't get much breathing room before getting thrown into the deep end there, just wanted to check in.

However much sticks seems to be down to what you make, so if you're in a hurry to ditch it it's as easy as letting yourself forget it. Like dreams.

[He hesitates for a long moment, trying to decide how to respond. He can see why people might hate them, might react badly. Might be angry. He's not.

He's annoyed, yes. He's grumpy. He's... disappointed? Disappointed. And by more than just not figuring out how the spell worked. He's disappointed to be himself again. Well, shit. That dumb kid had it easy. He'd lost his mother, but he found a sister. And none of the death in his life was his fault. The only magic he had made small creatures like him.

So he says something real. He says it quietly, with a little of the sadness, like he's admitting something the embarrasses him; it fits the persona he's portraying, too, so bonus.]

I'm kind of sad to be back here, instead of still there.

Yeah.

Nicer ones can be like that. I'd say it gets better, but it's too individual to call. I don't want to make you any promises.

Is it dumb to say I miss that pet spider already?

[Tone: embarrassed, self-deprecating, a little amused.]

No. I'm serious, missing anything is natural. There's good parts, mixed in with all the rest.

I guess.

[A pause, like he's thinking-- and he is, but less about the affection of spiders and more about what to reveal.]

I suppose she probably wouldn't really like me the way spiders did in there, anyway. My magic doesn't really work like that. And I don't have it anymore, anyway.

[Mmmm. Interest rising.]

What's it work like usually?

I can summon spiders. Or, I guess they're called imps, they're not actually spiders. They can crawl around on me or anybody, they can carry more complex spells for me, I "rescued" a girl from one once, that kind of thing.

[There's the sense of a shrug in his voice.]

I could use a fly shape when I summon, but I like spiders better.

Carry spells?

Do they have- do they think?

Eh? Not a lot. More than a real spider would, not as much as a dog. Maybe about as much as a squirrel or a bird or something? Mostly they just do what I ask, unless I don't ask anything, and then they just hang out and crawl on things.

What kind of spells do they carry?

I've never heard of anything like this - that's cool.

Any kind of spell I give them. Usually stuff that's more delicate, that took a while to cook up, you know? Something I can't just lob at somebody and have it work. They've delivered dreams for me. Put somebody to sleep. I've used them as a target for a ghosting.

[A quick, incredulous laugh:] Delivered dreams is one of the most outlandish things I've heard here, I think - that's amazing.

Yeah? Um, thanks, I guess.

[He sounds surprised. He kind of is. She'd probably be less amazed if she knew the dreams were mostly nightmares, but still. It's nice to be appreciated.]

I worked out just about everything by myself. I'm probably not doing anything the "right" way, or whatever, but it works, at least.

Is there a right way? Like, a community of those types, or is it just people popping up and trying to make it work out for themselves?

I mean, technically? Yeah. There's a whole little club of 'em out in Massachusetts. I grew up in Pennsylvania, though, didn't know about them.

Only in Massachusetts? Huh.

Are they in charge of things, or just happened to be a handful that were close enough together to group up?

Well, that's where the ones I got told about are. I don't know about in charge, I'm not sure there's, I don't know, a grand high witch or something. There's four families in Ipswich that all have a thing, where they work together and hide from normal people and raise their magic kids together.

[Some of the bitterness is leaking out, there. It always does when he thinks about Caleb's description of them being "like brothers". A thing he's never had, and never will have.

He gets a lid on it, has a breath, and says,]

That's all I know about. There's probably more out there somewhere, but I don't know where they are, and they probably hide as much as that bunch does.

[ She is, herself, riding out a bitter flash of envy. Gone as soon as it comes; practiced. Easy when she isn't intimately familiar. ]

Interesting. And sad - lonely.

I'm so sorry, I can't imagine having to work through something like that so young. You must be stressed, huh?

[ ... huh. Sympathy is not really what he'd been expecting, not for working out his magic. For a moment he's speechless, swallowing a lump of emotion. When he manages to speak, it's with a tone that's probably a shade too flippant, but he thinks that might work in his favor, too.]

It's not so bad. It's fun, kind of. A puzzle to work out. And then you really feel like it's yours, in the end, when you get the right result.

[ ... but yeah, he was stressed. Really stressed. And sad and lonely. Jesus Christ, that's not fair, that she pegged all of that so easy.]

Hm. You must be talented then, I'm glad you could put such a positive spin on it.

[ Sincerely. ]

Were there other versions of those people, in that world? Out of curiosity. At school, or whatever.

Other versions?

[He's not connecting this part of the conversation to the breach just yet. It hasn't occurred to him just how much breach lives might connect to his own-- his dead breach mother wasn't really a whole lot like his real mom.]

Equivalents. People with awful parents will have basically the same ones in some breaches, even though they're not on the Barge. Stuff like that. Important figures crop up.

Oh. No shit, really?

[He takes a moment to think.]

Well. The mom who died wasn't really a lot like. My mom. Way more brutal at business stuff.

[Still loved Chase, though. Which sticks uncomfortably under his ribs when he thinks it. He hurries on.]

And I guess-- damn, I guess actually one of my friends at school was a lot like Caleb. Ugh. Gross.

The Last Voyages: IC Contact

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