fionnuisce | kaisou inbox

[August enters.

August sees the phoenix.

August has a moment because holy shit.]

I didn't know phoenixes could be that small. Is this new?

I was cursed a couple months ago, and I can't control it very well. Least of all when things get this...stressful.

[ruffling his feathers in irritation.]

At least I haven't set the place on fire yet.

So that's what you meant when you said "literally combust". Shit.

[Time to set the food down. August's familiars, Julian and now also Helena, fly in and start inspecting the tiny fire bird.]

Need some anti-fire charms?

No, I think I'm too small to do any real damage--hey hold on back up-

[fluttering away from them and perching on the cane's handle]

At least I have been so far. I'll get it under control in a second, just...I don't know.

[Helena tries to follow! Julian stops her because she is baby and still learning.

August goes to set everything down and start putting food away.]

Too much stress, not enough breathing room?

The human incarnation of chaos shows up, and my sanity flies clear out the window.

[The phoenix seemed to take a deep breath and exhale a tiny flame, flitting back to the chair before turning back into Waver--who proceeded to pluck an orange feather out of long black hair.]

Fuck. Knew I was going to snap sooner or later, I'm just surprised it took this long.

That Flat guy? Is he really that bad?

No--I mean... [He sighed, taking off his sunglasses and setting both them and the feather aside on the table. Taking a deep breath, he pressed a hand to his eyes.]

Escardos is one of my students back home. He's not a bad person and he's not dangerous. [Well, not in the 'threat' sort of way.] He's just also the personification of some forty percent of my stress levels.

Ah.

[Yikes.]

But this one's not an isekai, right? So maybe he won't be as chaotic.

...No, that's exactly what worries me. It would be easier if he was an isekai, at least then I would know exactly what was going on with him.

You know the experience better than I do; how similar would you say one's past and current lives tend to be?

[There's no response for a minute as August thinks and uses that time to stick the tamales in the freezer.]

I think it depends. My life now and then are really similar, but I'm pretty sure like, Nox's is different. Even with me, though, there's some big fuckin' differences. Hell, Alphinaud's my cousin here but past-me didn't have any cousins.

...

[Waver muttered something under his breath, wire snaking out from under his sleeve to...open a nearby cabinet and retrieve a bottle with two glasses to set out on the table. What's the point of high-level thaumaturgy if not for mundane uses?]

So either I'm worrying for nothing, or I'm not. I can't say I like those odds, but it's better than a definite problem.

[Look Waver is valid.]

I think I'm another outlier here, so odds are good that whatever you're worrying about isn't as bad as it is where you're from. What are you feeling for...whatever meal this is.

I'm not in any position to be picky, and you're thoughtful enough to hear me out. Whatever you want is fine.

[his brainpower is 100% occupied by screaming right now]

Right, it makes sense...magic here doesn't work like it does at home, and neither do mages. So it's...it might be fine. [sounding like he was trying to convince himself.] Cervantes was complicated enough, but it's been half a year since I ended up here--I didn't actually expect anyone else I knew to show themselves, him least of all.

[Please ignore the clattering of silverware because--]

Cervantes? Father Cervantes?!

Do not get on my case about the Christmas party, I swear to god I am not in the mood today.

[yes, in other words.]

Look, I don't care if you and the priest are dating, it's not like he's a normal priest anyway. But he's also from your world, just reincarnated?

I...sort of? Back when the library appeared, it...

[Deep breath. Waver poured two drinks, then pressed a faintly scarred right hand to his head.]

It might be a long explanation if you want the context. But the short version is 'he knew some version of me in some parallel timeline'. I don't know him back at home, and I don't know if I ever will or not.

Ah.

[Okay, the soup is heating up, so August steps out of the kitchen to check on Waver. He'll also take that drink with a small little "santé", because he is his aunts' nephew and why use English?]

But here, what the fuck does any of that matter.

It doesn't, past the fact that I possess a healthy mortal terror of the Eighth Sacrament Assembly. But you asked if he was from my world, and the answer is 'yes, and also likely no'.

As to Escardos, whether or not his own current life matches up to his past life in any respect is something that worries me, because mages are not usually people who come from normal or stable families.

[August just gives Waver a Look because yeah that says a lot about your home life huh?]

Like, how unstable or not normal are we talking? Because I mean, my battle deck is technically my dad's soul. Or past me's dad's soul, something like that.

Don't look at me like that, my parents were normal explicitly because they weren't career mages. [he is not having implied slander in his house]

Mage families are...dangerous. Our whole society runs on some practically medieval levels of archaic shit. Violent infighting between siblings and branch families is not only common, it's expected. The only thing mages care about is the advancement of their bloodline and Magic Crest--basically the amalgamated knowledge of their family name. [Sighing, Waver rubbed the back of his neck uneasily.]

As a mage, Flat Escardos is brilliant and more powerful than I could ever hope to be in a thousand years. But he's...'eccentric' is the best word for it. He lacks common sense and discipline alike. To a traditional mage family, he probably looks like the worst kind of liability or ticking time bomb.

[With no small note of disgust:] I feel like I don't need to tell you what mages do with liabilities.

[August shrugs at being corrected. He's just saying! You implied it!

But yikes. He takes a drink of whatever Waver poured.]

Speed up the ticking. Fuck, I think there's some demons who wouldn't touch that shit. But if he's not a mage here, there's a good chance his family's just...normal? Comparatively?

I want to believe that. Logically, you're probably right. Hiring assassins is a little more difficult in an ordinary world where freelancers aren't an established career path.

[Which just left the issue Waver didn't voice; the uncertainty of not knowing what Flat would have turned into without a teacher stubborn enough to put up with the incessant ticking, metaphorically speaking. He wouldn't assign nearly so much vital importance to himself personally, but the concern still tugged at the back of his mind like a fake smile at the corners of one's mouth.]

...I'm just worried about him. My students are...in a lot of cases, no one else in the faculty wants to look at them twice. Escardos more than most.

[Wave won't say it, but August is smart enough to put two and two together.]

And without someone like you, is Flat okay?

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