milliways_bar | (no subject)

(no subject)

Snow! ~~GIP!~~

. . .Dude, it's summer back in Nita's world. Snow is a good thing.

Nita's outside, idly making snowballs and ~~stock~~piling them up. Though she's got a good coat and mittens, she's hatless.

Approaching carries the risk of a snowball fight. You've been warned.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Maybe not," she admits. "I hope it snows more. Wish I knew more about the climate outside."

"Maybe somebody here does."

"It's Scotland out there, isn't it? I'll bet I know where I can check."

She puts down her cocoa and says a few quick words, running one hand across the empty air in front of her. Her fingers find the tab of hard air she's looking for, and she "unzips" her claudication pocket. She reaches in and pulls out her manual.

. . .Or, to put it a shorter way -- Nita pulls a red, hardcover book out of thin air, and starts paging through it.

Gavroche stares.

"What's that?"

"Oh, my manual." She tilts it so he can see the cover. Gold letters stamp out So You Want to Be a Wizard.

His eyes are round.

"You're a wizard?"

"Yeah." She raises her eyebrows. "That a problem?"

"No, no", he says hastily. "Tom's a wizard."

"Oh, okay. Wand or words?"

"Wand. And Door and Ingress are Openers."

"Openers?"

"Yeah, they can... Open. Doors. Anywhere there could be one."

She frowns. "Like a gating? I mean, a portal?"

"...I think so. It doesn't just always lead through... like I think if they Open a wall, it can go wherever they want."

"It sound similar, anyway. Cool."

"You can do that too?"

"Kind of. Mostly I just use pre-established worldgates -- they're gates you can use to go anywhere, pretty much."

"Are they only for wizards, or can anyone use them?"

"Mostly just for wizards."

"Oh." He pauses, then, "Is your wizardry like Tom's, where you have it or you don't?"

She frowns. "We don't always have it, if that's what you mean. You take an Oath, promising you'll use the power for good, and it gets gifted to you."

"So... anyone can have it that takes the Oath?"

"Not quite. Some people are going to take to it more, just like any job. And you have to start kind of young -- around your age, probably. Ten or eleven."

He's looking very interested in all of this.

"So... I could?"

She considers. He looks like he's about the right age -- and if they're old enough to ask. . .

"You probably could."