milliways_bar | (no subject)

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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.

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"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?"

"That, I cannot tell. A threat to my life or my master's, perhaps."

"Fair enough," Autor says, inclining his head. His tail points upward, though the tip curves down. "Are you often in danger?"

Childermass laughs a little. "Not in his service, unless it be from angry would-be book buyers who were beaten to it. Mr Norrell has set himself to have all the books of magic."

"Really? Why's that?" Autor says, tilting his head. His ears flick the air one after the other, and his tail swishes back and forth. "I can't imagine he'll be able to collect them all."

"There are none published any more, nor have been for a hundred years or more, so it is not so difficult as you might think. As for why, he feels they are only safe in his hands."

"I see," Autor says, his ears flicking the air. "I don't blame him for wanting to hoard knowledge. I wonder if it's easier to do so because magic isn't respectable anymore?"

"It may be so. There are many books about magic, but they are little more than histories, with no spells to speak of."

"And still no one knows why magic just died out," Autor says, shaking his head. His tail wraps around his legs again. "Is Mr. Norrell wealthy?"

"We have some idea. It began when the Raven King went away, and I believe he is the one who stopped up the source as he left. But why he would do such a thing... Yes, he is very wealthy. He inherited all his uncle had to leave, an estate and a good deal of money."