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

"That does make genealogy difficult," Autor says, slightly wry. "For all you know, he may have been a Faerie himself."

"For all I know", Childermass agrees. "Though I think she would have told me that if she suspected it."

"Oh, probably," Autor says, nodding. His ears perk forward again. "Did it take you a while to get used to the magic of this place?"

"If I am honest, it almost brought me to my knees when I first arrived. My head was spinning such as I have never felt before."

"You can sense magic as well, then?" Autor says, raising his brows. "Interesting. Is that an innate talent or a hard-won skill?"

"Innate, I suppose. I certainly have never knowingly worked toward it."

"I see," Autor says, his ears perking forward and slightly to the side. "It's useful to have a skill like that. I do hope the bar hasn't given you anymore headaches, though."

"I seem to have grown accustomed to the level of ambient magic here", Childermass reassures him. "The first hour or so was the worst, and it has lessened steadily since then."

"That's good at least," Autor says, nodding. His ears swivel around, and his tail points straight up, tip twitching. "What's your favorite part of the bar?"

"The library", he says immediately. "It is remarkable."

Autor brightens, easing into a smile. "It is, isn't it? It's the one place in the bar I call home. Have you found many books of magic in there already?"

"Oh yes." Childermass nods. "Some from other worlds, I think, for I had never heard of them."

"Oh, that's fun," Autor says, grinning. His ears perk up, twitching. "I hope you can learn many more spells from them. I suspect Mr. Norrell would have a heart attack at the books available there."

"Mr Norrell will never see them, if I have any say in the matter. I certainly will not be carrying either the books or their names home to him."

"Oh? Why is that?" Autor says, tilting his head. "Do you disapprove of his hoarding knowledge?"

"I disapprove of his letting no one else see it, not even with careful selection. No one at all, save he and I, can enter the library unless we bring them there."

"And no one can borrow books, I assume," Autor says, shaking his head. His ears flatten again, and his tail points down. "You're right, that's pretty awful. For what reasons would he actually let people see his books?"

"No one has been allowed to yet, and many have asked. I can only think, perhaps if he met a gentleman - and it would be a gentleman - he found worthy to learn magic."

"Women aren't likely to be taught by him?" Autor asks, tilting his head. His ears twitch, as does his tail. "That person would have to have some natural talent."

"It would never occur to him to teach a woman." He nods. "That they would, and know a little of how to use it."

"Half the women in the bar would laugh at him, I suspect," Autor says, wrinkling his nose. "Do you think he'll find such a person to teach?"

"I cannot say. My cards have told me a change is coming, and a man will bring it about, so perhaps he will."

"You have cards that tell the future?" Autor says, perking up. His ears swivel forward. "Interesting. Are they part of the Tarot?"

"They are the Cards of Marseilles." He gets them out of a pocket. "Here."

(They are, in fact, copies of the Cards of Marseilles on whatever scraps of paper came to hand when he was drawing them.)

"Oh, wow," Autor says, blinking at them. His ears assume a straight-up orientation. "I like these drawings. Did you draw them yourself?"