Leesha is bored and / has the day off, so you get / multi-pup haiku!

[mendanddefend_archive]

Humanoid gerbil
Reading Blake and drinking chai:
A moment of bliss.

* * *

Osaka is out
By the lake shore, skipping stones.
(She's not very good.)

* * *

Tourism brochures
Surround the Guardian as he
Munches on his chips.

* * *

Grumpy oracle
Frowning at his crystal ball--
Something's not right here.

Comments

[grumpyseer.livejournal.com]

The man drops his eyes from the crystal ball, rubbing his temples. He catches sight of Roshaun out of the corner of his eye, and turns to face the boy with a small smile. "Not too familiar with second sight, then?"

[royal-guarantor.livejournal.com]

"I've heard of it in the abstract", Roshaun answers. "But I've had no personal experience. Should I take it that isn't a manual, then?"

[grumpyseer.livejournal.com]

"...no," says Dominic, raising an eyebrow. "Who would put a manual in a crystal ball? No one who actually needed it would be able to use it."

[royal-guarantor.livejournal.com]

"Except for the kind I mean", Roshaun says patiently, "in which case only the one who actually needed it would be able to use it."

[grumpyseer.livejournal.com]

"And what kind of manual would that be?"

[royal-guarantor.livejournal.com]

"A wizard's, of course. It's not beyond imagination one might come in a form like that."

He nods to the crystal ball.

[grumpyseer.livejournal.com]

"But what would be the point? Scrying from a crystal ball takes training. You'd need the information in the manual in order to have the expertise to read the manual."

[royal-guarantor.livejournal.com]

Roshaun shakes his head.

"You'd just have to know how to read it. That power, you'd be granted. But your ball isn't a manual, so it's a moot point."

[grumpyseer.livejournal.com]

"That would have to be a really weird branch of magic," says Dominic thoughtfully. "To have spellbooks that you could only access through scrying..."

[royal-guarantor.livejournal.com]

"The manual takes different forms for every species, and sometimes different for individuals", Roshaun tells him, almost lecturing. "It would only be a crystal ball if that was your particular idiom."

[grumpyseer.livejournal.com]

A skeptical look. "Your world's idea of magic must be very different from mine."

[royal-guarantor.livejournal.com]

"Do you serve any One by doing yours?" Roshaun demands.

[grumpyseer.livejournal.com]

Dominic doesn't catch the capitalization there. "I serve lots of people."

[royal-guarantor.livejournal.com]

"Who?"

[grumpyseer.livejournal.com]

"My family. My friends. The kingdom of Callan. Anyone who needs help."

[royal-guarantor.livejournal.com]

"And do you ask anything in return?"

[grumpyseer.livejournal.com]

"Just that they leave me alone when they don't need my help."

[royal-guarantor.livejournal.com]

Roshaun snorts, too cynically for a boy his age.

"Good luck with that."

[grumpyseer.livejournal.com]

"I never said I got peace and quiet. Just that I asked for it."

[royal-guarantor.livejournal.com]

He nods quickly, mostly to himself.

"It's something my father taught me. They never stop watching. Always expecting things."

[grumpyseer.livejournal.com]

"Are you a mage, then?"

[royal-guarantor.livejournal.com]

"A wizard", he corrects. "And I will be. As soon as I take the Oath."

[grumpyseer.livejournal.com]

"What Oath would that be?"

[royal-guarantor.livejournal.com]

"The wizard's Oath", he says, tone saying 'isn't it obvious?' "I'll have no power unless I take it and obey it."

[grumpyseer.livejournal.com]

That earns him another skeptical look. "I've been studying magic since I was five years old, and I've never heard of any 'wizard's Oath'. "