draculabutbackwards

[The concept of having to ask Adrian for anything is... it's not demeaning, exactly, but he still doesn't like it. He's used to just demanding it from scouts or getting it on his own somehow, but having to ask to be able to use magic is weird and unusual.

It also takes him like half an hour to stop overthinking how to actually ask, a solid several minutes of which is just spent debating with himself whether to call Adrian 'sir' before he ultimately decides against it.]

Adrian. I... need to make a request. From you. A-as a warden. My warden, I mean.

[With only a few seconds to calculate, he spins possibilities. He feels no guilt over analyzing every piece of interaction they have. Hunter's been taught incorrectly. If the problem were swordsmanship, he'd watch not just technique but handling and approach. Since the problem is "how to be a person," he'll do the same.

Hunter is obviously a bit wound up. He doesn't want to be dismissive, as much as he'd prefer they could be casual about it. Better to meet Hunter where he is for now.]

Well, henceforward we can go ahead and assume all requests fall under that umbrella.

[He puts down the book he was flipping through and gives Hunter his attention.]

[His hands fiddle in front of his stomach, his posture tense as he holds himself at attention, but it still takes him a few seconds to sail the new wave of anxiety so his voice stays steady.]

I've... started studying glyphs with Dracula. But I've realised-- I've been able to use the staff he made me, but I'm... unable to do the same with glyphs, and my studies can only go so far if I can't cast them. I- I understand that an inmate needs a warden's permission to be able to perform other magic.

[It's hard making it an actual question. Easier to serve it out as a list of facts so he doesn't have to admit that he wants something.]

[Continuing his policy of offering kindness as though he were leaving chicken scraps outside for a skittish cat, Adrian nods along impassively.]

I suppose the staff was technically Father's magic. And if the admiral couldn't shut down the individual's ability to make a spell work, everyone could just learn sorcery from my world or the ones like it.

[Framing it like a reasonable problem to solve.]

Well, it's no trouble to make the request. Just the admiral's fondness for arbitrary order.

[His hands still with the unexpected swell of hope somewhere near his stomach. He's not quite sure what to do with it.

Still, he got the answer he was expecting for the question he wasn't asking. So he should... probably actually ask it.]

Does... that mean you're going to do it?

[Oh, literal minded child...]

I'll do it now so you'll get the same answer I do. Let's aim for precision with the request. We don't want to accidentally leave something out. Requesting, say, the ability to practice magic that can be learned at the same rate as any other student of your description in the world that magic hails from?

The ability to cast glyphs at all should be sufficient. [He reaches into his cloak and pulls out a notepad, flicking open its early pages as he explains.] From what I've already observed of the human girl casting them, there's no actual magical ability involved in their creation - they seem like they draw magic for their functions from the ambient environment - and complicated spell circles using them are just composed of multiple glyphs in specific arrangements, and precisely focused intent.

[He flicks back to the front page; and he visibly hesitates for a second, before he turns to show the intricate, almost ritualistic circle, composed mainly of multiple copies of three distinct glyphs in a complex arrangement.]

Dracula found this, when Belos was here. [The admission is quiet, and he can't quite make himself meet Adrian's eyes.] It was carved into Belos's arm. I... haven't worked out what its function is yet.

[Sometimes he's very glad for this refuge in businesslike efficiency he's built himself, a secure location from which to prod at Hunter's experiences. Sometimes he really wishes he could just go in angry. Sometimes, as now, both.]

Well, that goes to the top of the research heap, of course. So.

[He is a little worried about the admiral taking him too literally.]

I just want to be sure we won't accidentally lock you out of anything useful. If an ordinary human can cast them, though, that puts you on par with human magicians from my world. I really ought to catch Sypha for you. Father's an excellent source of knowledge, but it's been millenia since he was a mortal trying to muddle through things.

I've met her a couple of times now, in the library. She gave me this... it was like a poetry- short story, thing, on human surgery.

[He closes his notepad and thumbs at the pages, but he doesn't look as nervous now. There's something to be said for letting him talk about his interests, apparently.]

She's told me a little bit about what her magic is like as well, a-as a magician.

[Never seems like a good idea to get in the way of Hunter's momentum. No harm in a bit of a tangent.]

She's particular about that, yes. Sort of the inverse of your world. Instead of magic being a top-down assignment, most people have very little notion of what it is and will make wild assumptions.

I worked closely with her when the library was on fire. A lot of her strengths seem to be in pretty straightforward elementalism. Her technique and control are clearly incredible, but the only person I've seen cast like her on the Boiling Isles is...

[And he nearly cuts himself off completely, because he can already see the face the comparison will get. Only nearly, because he just. Doesn't want to leave the sentence hanging, but his voice is notably quieter.]

...Belos. O-or myself, with an artificial staff, but. Even my staffs draw from an external source.

[There's a more studied neutrality in Adrian's expression, but he does note that little shift. Hunter knowing the general opinion of Belos is maybe a good first step, but it can't be the only one they rely on.]

That's how that sort of magic works in an emergency, yes. Just as you said, more complicated results can come from building with the same elements and a good grounding in how they work. Ask her how she stole my father's castle sometime.

[Hunter's eyes widen in surprise, and for a moment the urge to go run and ask Sypha is glaringly obvious on his face.

And then he blinks and pulls himself together, visibly straightening a little.]

Regardless, I... I don't believe it's necessary to incorporate a blanket release on admitting me to learn other kinds of magic. Dracula's been teaching me rituals, but those are all utilitarian and functionally harmless.

[Oh dear. They are not. But whatever Hunter has to believe.]

Alright, I'll call it in now?

[He'd want to hear the admiral's response himself, but he is fighting the urge to map too many of his own impulses onto Hunter. They're alike, and he knows his pattern seeking habits. Too easy to lead himself into a mistake.]

[He nods, once - and makes no attempt to leave. Though his hands start fidgeting gently again, picking idly at the seam of one glove. If he wasn't allowed to stay and listen, he assumes he'd be dismissed, but he's rather hoping if he stays quiet on that then he'll be allowed to stay.]

[This, he is deliberate about. Hunter ought to feel included in decisions that directly impact him. He puts the communicator down as close to between them as is convenient. He doesn't actually have furniture, so there's no useful table. He has to use the side of the coffin. But he keeps his eyes on Hunter as he asks, making a point of not putting any whimsical safeguards on potential aggression like he did for Sephiroth. They'll deal with that if it comes to it. He expects it won't.]

[For some reason he feels like he's supposed to feel different afterwards, but it's a very straightforward bit of nothing of a conversation.

But now he's curious. So he flicks open his notepad again and draws a glyph in a quick motion - a neat circles with a geometric design inside - and after a moment of visible hesitation, jabs the finished sketch with the end of his pencil.

Immediately the glyph glows a bluish-white, and Hunter startles as a spike of ice bursts out of the paper, immediately a foot long - even doing it on purpose, it's still a surprise that it works, and Hunter's eyes light up.]

Edited 2022-06-16 07:23 (UTC)

[Adrian is going to have more conversations on the subject. And need more specifics. But for now, he wants Hunter to enjoy this completely. And knows the kid well enough to see that the best way to ensure that is ask him for a book report. So he trains his attention and his knowing smirk.]

Well?

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