[Fair enough. Max takes another long swig and sets it back down.]
Mmmmmm, blood is... it's life, it's energy. Spilling my own blood gives a hell of a boost to my magic. I wouldn't use it normally but... [He shrugs like it's no big deal to have cut open his own hand for the sake of magic practice.]
Thread is just what I use as a focus. It's how I See magic.
Mmmm, it can be. It's complex and there's a lot of different kinds, different ways of using it.
Mmmm, usually, yeah. I... I See spells as threads, as weaving, like nets or webs. I've heard of people hearing it as music, or words slotting together. For me, it's thread.
I don't know. You don't need to See it to be able to use it. It helps, but it isn't essential. It's a relatively common skill in my family but considering our heritage, it's not really surprising.
[It's really difficult to even try to remain serious when Jack is giggling like that. Max shoves one of the bottles into Jack's waiting hand and finishes off the last dregs of his own.]
Well, I'm the devilishly handsome one with supernatural powers. People are supposed to dig that, right?
And the hot springs was the first time in like... two years.
Prick. [He says it with all due affection, ruffling Jack's hair in revenge.]
[Jack takes the ruffling with a sort of drunken good grace - which is to say with just a bit of squirming and an intrigued, enthused hoot.]
The hot springs? [He has a hasty gulp and leans closer, grin almost painfully wide.] Don't stop there! Out with the salacious details already. Who's the lucky girl or boy?
If only. Maybe you'd stop wandering in and stealing my scrambled eggs.
[Jack can sympathise, of course - Eugene is a miracle-worker with eggs. Or any food staple, really. Settling into lazy enjoyment, he sprawls back again, laughing into his bottle.]
You sound perfectly horrible at one-time-only deals.
Maybe not the most. [Jack meanders through his nitpicking, slinging his feet up onto the couch and toeing at Max's thigh in pointless, lazy bemusement.] But it's pretty funny, yeah.
Ah, yeah. This place is just an incubating chamber for hobbies and hopeless crushes. [The slapping just gets a brief laugh, Jack wiggling as deep into the couch as he can go in lieu of any further pestering.] It's just cute, seeing you mooning over someone. Wouldn't have thought you went for the sexy librarian bit.
[The way Max's demeanour settles sparks a similar easing-back in Jack, and some of the glee leaves his expression, leaving just a quiet, vaguely thoughtful smiling.]
I suppose that's how Eugene is, too. Or was. You should talk with him about it. [Another toe-prod, but this one is slower, lighter - about as supportive as a toe-prod can be.] He's bound to have better insight on that situation than me.
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Ah - no thanks - and I suppose the blood and the fancy weaving all have important roles too?
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Mmmmmm, blood is... it's life, it's energy. Spilling my own blood gives a hell of a boost to my magic. I wouldn't use it normally but... [He shrugs like it's no big deal to have cut open his own hand for the sake of magic practice.]
Thread is just what I use as a focus. It's how I See magic.
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[No wonder you can spend years at Oxford just studying the history of this stuff. Jack scratches at his jaw, looking at the string curiously.]
Does everyone see it differently?
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Mmmm, usually, yeah. I... I See spells as threads, as weaving, like nets or webs. I've heard of people hearing it as music, or words slotting together. For me, it's thread.
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[He pauses just a moment, then practically giggles at his own words. Best not to embark on speculation regarding Max's bits.]
Erm- sorry, I mean- bloodline.
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Riiight. Sure you did.
I can't believe you're the one of us getting laid regularly.
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[He barely holds onto indignance before he's giggling again, reaching out for a bottle to have another sip.]
Besides that I have the devil's own luck.
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Well, I'm the devilishly handsome one with supernatural powers. People are supposed to dig that, right?
And the hot springs was the first time in like... two years.
Prick. [He says it with all due affection, ruffling Jack's hair in revenge.]
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The hot springs? [He has a hasty gulp and leans closer, grin almost painfully wide.] Don't stop there! Out with the salacious details already. Who's the lucky girl or boy?
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I swear Jack, if you breathe a word of this to anyone I will make your life hell.
[He sits back on the couch looking a touch awkward.]
Helios.
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[Jack doesn't know if he's more amazed or just all the way into disbelief yet, and through it all he stays teetering on the verge of laugher.]
Not- not the god, but the actual- here, in Luceti- with the dragons. That Heios?
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No, some other Helios who was around the hot springs last week.
Of course that Helios.
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[A stray giggle escapes him, and he drowns it in another swig, looking at Max admiringly.]
Honestly, not bad. Malnosso-induced, or should I expect to see him guiltily slinking out of the community house door at odd hours now?
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One time only deal. And there would be no guilty slinking. I'd totally make him breakfast.
[He gives Jack an incredulous look.]
Not bad? Not bad? The man is gorgeous.
[And a whole bunch of other adjectives he cannot use without sounding like a lovesick fool.]
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[Jack can sympathise, of course - Eugene is a miracle-worker with eggs. Or any food staple, really. Settling into lazy enjoyment, he sprawls back again, laughing into his bottle.]
You sound perfectly horrible at one-time-only deals.
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[He huffs and opens another bottle, taking a long swallow before he settles back, a small smile on his lips.]
I am very good at one-time-only deals. Usually.
[He gives Jack a wry look.]
How obvious is it?
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I think if we opened the window, little birds might start flitting about you and trilling.
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Fuck. That's just... ah hell. I am the most hopeless excuse for a human being.
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[He slaps lightly at Jack's feet in retaliations for the poking.]
It'll fade eventually. Get the impression we've got nothing but time here.
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[He rubs a hand over his face because really, he cannot quite believe this is the state of things.
He lets out a huff of breath, giving Jack a wry look, although there's something a bit more vulnerable in his expression.]
I don't. Not... not with women anyway, and guys, I've never really- anything.
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[The way Max's demeanour settles sparks a similar easing-back in Jack, and some of the glee leaves his expression, leaving just a quiet, vaguely thoughtful smiling.]
I suppose that's how Eugene is, too. Or was. You should talk with him about it. [Another toe-prod, but this one is slower, lighter - about as supportive as a toe-prod can be.] He's bound to have better insight on that situation than me.
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