milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

When Autor steps through the door today, his clothes remain the same: white pants, oversized gray sweater, and glasses. What changes are the ears. Not his, necessarily--those still remain human--but he sprouts fuzzy, gray, and pointed kitten ears on top of his head with a soft, "Oh!" The tail is also new, and telegraphs his body language as the tip curves upward in agitation.

"Really?" he calls up to the ceiling. "Come on!"

Experimentally, he brushes his fingers against one of his fuzzy new appendages--and tears his hand away, blushing. They point in different directions, moving independently of one another to show his ambivalence with the costume.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Nice to meet you, too," Autor says, inclining his head. His ears flick the air as if warding off a fly. "Are you new to the bar, then? I haven't seen you around before."

Childermass watches the ears move, intrigued, then nods.

"New enough, aye. I was first here a little over a week ago."

Autor's tail swishes back and forth slowly as he cocks his head at Childermass. "I see! What do you think of the bar?"

"It is a fascinating place", he says sincerely. "So full of magic."

"That it is," Autor says, easing into a smile. His ears point slightly to the side and a little forward. "Do you have magic where you come from?"

"Some." He shrugs a little. "It is not what it was."

"What do you mean by that?" Autor says, tilting his head. His ears perk forward, showing his interest. "Do you mean that magic has died out?"

"Not entirely. But to all intents and purposes, yes, and many people do believe it dead. It is more as if - the source has been stopped, and only a little remains in the well."

"How on earth did that happen?" Autor says, furrowing his brow. His ears lay flat on his head, like airplane wings. "What happened to all of the magic users?"

"They died, each in their own time. But before that happened, many spells simply stopped working."

Autor's ears press flat and back, and his tail points down. "That's terrible," he says, shaking his head. "Are there any left?"

"A few." He smiles faintly. "My master is one such, though no one knows it."

"I can imagine that he'd want to keep that secret," Autor says, his ears perking forward and his tail tip twitching. "Are you magical as well?"

"It is not counted respectable to perform magic in my world, any longer, or even to attempt it." He hesitates a little at that, long used to keeping it secret from everyone, but eventually nods. "And truly no one away from here knows that."

Edited 2015-10-31 21:49 (UTC)

"Why isn't it respectable to perform magic?" Autor says, tilting his head. His tail wraps around his legs. "Thank you for trusting me. It's easier to be free around Milliways."

"Society has moved on from the days when it was. Now the magical societies do naught but talk and write about magic, and the street magicians are treated as vagabonds." He nods. "I would be dismissed immediately if my master knew."

"What sort of magic can you perform?" Autor says, his ears perking forward and slightly to the side again. "Magical societies without magic--how droll!"

"I know a spell to show where magic is coming from - though of course of limited use here. One to appear as a shadow, and one to put out a flame, newly learned."

"Interesting," Autor says, inclining his head. His ears rest in a relaxed state, as does his tail. "How do you learn new spells if magic has mostly died out?"

"I learned that one here. But there are still many written down, to which I have access... if they can be made to work."

"Oh, I see," Autor says, blinking at him. His ears swivel about. "Did you learn that one from a book or did someone teach you?"

"Someone taught me", Childermass tells him. "A man named Abe no Seimei."

"I haven't met him," Autor says, inclining his head. His ears point straight up, as does his tail. "Congratulations on learning a new spell. I hope you learn many more around here. Do you think you'll always have to cast them in secret?"

"That depends. If there is ever great need to cast them where I may be seen, I will do so."

"Even at the risk of your job?" Autor says, blinking at him. His ears lay flat. "What sort of need would supplant that?"