Summertime Sadness [Urs]

[Sivan]

"Any day we learn something is not a total waste," he agreed, looking up from where Urs had taken his hand. He didn't protest that. He didn't mind that. In fact, it was rather nice to have someone reach out and connect with him, even if they had to be intoxicated and possibly feeling indebted to him for it to happen. His smile was wan but sincere.

"My old master finally made me believe that, even though he wasn't the first to tell me." Learning had always been important to him, something to depend on when one couldn't depend on people.

"At least you enjoy water, though. That will help keep the lager from having revenge on you in the morning." Or, perhaps, before morning considering how early Urs had gotten verschnickered. Perhaps it was a Dratori thing to enjoy beer. He could almost taste the wild spirits in the spirits, the barley and the rye, the wheat and the hops. Similarly, he could almost sense the clinging touch of the grapevines in the wine, as well as other liquors and liqueurs. Perhaps he ought to explore that someday.

Something shifted within him. After an instant of hesitation, he realized it was Exael, who could manifest now but preferred to rest most of the time within Sivan himself. The boy resonates with us, it said. Perhaps it was the connection of their hands, skin to skin. Sivan was still exploring the nature of his connection with his aidolon, and the spirit of wisdom was as new to this as him. The rune! A summoner? he asked, getting better at having internal conversations rather than speaking out loud and seeming crazy to passersby.

Yes.

"We share a secret, I think," he said carefully, keeping a faint smile on his face lest Urs rebel at the knowledge. This wasn't Zaichaer or anything, but many magi preferred to keep their powers a secret lest the Circle of Spells seek to control them. "Summoner."

Blue eyes peered into the darker windows to Urs' soul, seeking confirmation and calm.

[Urs Wardell]

Sivan's smile was fragile. Urs wondered at that, curious. Sivan had been so kind. The elf was strong; Urs wasn't heavy, but he wasn't a feather. Sivan had lifted him as easily as Urs might have lifted a child. The smile seemed true but subdued.

"I drank something before I came," he said, hiccuping, his lips twisting into a smirk, "I won't be sick tomorrow." That particular recipe had been one of the first things Urs had learned to brew; it was the easiest remedy to sell. There wasn't a day that went by in the Warrens someone wasn't drunk or planning to drink. He supposed that was another thing that differed between home and here.

"Summoner?" Urs' eyebrows scrunched together, confused. "Oh - you mean," he laughed, a sound that could tickle the air around them, "Did you know, I had to do this at my apprenticeship, too? The names and words here are so different from home." He hadn't expected the elf to speak like the wizards here, their noses stuck in those giant books Mother described.

His eyes refracted for the briefest moment, the world almost perfectly reflected within. Sivan was cocooned in a gossamer thread, gold like his hair, protected - or protective. This wasn't unusual, not for the Upper City. The people here were timid. The nobles especially, so afraid of hurt in any form.

"I'm a witch," he whispered, daring to get as close as the table between them would allow. He noted the second pair of eyes behind Sivan, sharper than the blue ones; that, and a white umbra above his head, threads flowing this way and that. A few things he could pick out, by instinct, but the rest alluded him, at least for now.

"But I know Names if that's what you're asking. I know the rituals and rites to attract from the Other. And I know that you're -," he paused, thinking - oh, what'd been the word? "seeing. Semblance, that's what they call it, isn't it?"

[Sivan]

The boy Sees, Exael warned. Sivan engaged his own Semblance, giving him and Exael a view into the aetheric patterns of his new friend. Were they friends? Sivan didn't know how that worked, exactly. He seemed to stumble into things like that, whether because someone was in need like Flower or Destyn or Urs, or someone had shared interests like Torin or perhaps Urs, as well. Need didn't bother him. Everyone and everything relied on other people and things to survive, to thrive. And shared interests were certainly a solid foundation for friendships, he supposed.

Between the augmented runic vision and the shared insights of his wise aidolon, Sivan saw a fair amount into the tipsy man. He smiled, though. While Exael asserted that the man had a knack for deception, Sivan didn't think he was trying to deceive him in particular. And even Sivan knew how to deflect attention or get around lying while also avoiding the truth when it was necessary.

"I'm a student of alchemy," he replied. "Master Jacun's apprentice here in the Plaza of Jeweled Arches. Witch is a human word, I think, though perhaps you might call me one. Even without knowing the Names, I was able to speak to the spirits... plants, animals, elementals..." They had matching runes, really, though he got the impression that Urs knew a thing or two about world magics as well. Witches, from what he understood, were only too happy to learn how to effect magical changes without the need for a Cardinal Rune. He could respect that, though he knew humans said witch with some degree of distaste and distrust.

"I think you are the first witch I have met, Urs Wardell. The knowledgable ones do call our runes by their names, Semblance, Summoning. But I do not answer to the Circle of Spells. Does that make me a witch, as well?"

Sivan considered Urs.

"Knowing the Names is important but there are many things you must know when dealing with spirits... Some are benevolent. Some are wild. Some want to use you up and devour you. If you wish to know more, I could teach you some things so you don't hurt yourself." Or others.

Then infernals would love this one, Exael fretted. All Sivan could do, though, was teach him to think like a lawyer so his contracts were airtight. Then even if he did make compacts with demons, his soul wouldn't get shredded in their teeth.

[Urs Wardell]

The cocoon thinned, or maybe Urs was imagining it. Wisps of gold broke free from the shell around Sivan, stretching towards Urs. They were fragile things, beginning threads. Given time, he knew they'd strengthen into friendship or hardened into enmity. There were tricks he didn't know to halt their growth or cause them to flower with love, but he knew that words, well-chosen words, could do much the same.

The white umbra that rested on Sivan's head sharpened; it'd been a quick change, from soft light to solid sense of sharp. A warning maybe, but not for Urs; Sivan still felt warm and soft. A whiff of molasses tickled his nose and his body felt sticky all over. Strange.

It was harder to translate what he Saw and hold a conversation. He usually watched people or crowds from afar and picked apart what he felt until it was something recognizable.

"That's a gift. I never knew someone to Speak without being marked," he said, a hint of jealously coloring his voice - and aura. Mother had burned magic into his skin after determining he didn't have the gift to Speak. Or to See. A wizard trick, she'd explained, for those who couldn't do without them.

He was struck with a sudden sense of pride, knowing he was the first witch the elf had known. He pleased to hear Sivan was free of the tower that trapped its people, happier still to hear no lie in his words. "A witch is a witch because they say so; if that's what you'd like to be, then you're one."

Urs paused at the offer - it seemed genuine and more so because Sivan hadn't been sincere since he'd met him. Even hidden behind his clouded aura, Urs could hear the crisp crunch of truth.

"...I would like that," he says, a slight blush returning to his face as he adds, "To learn from you." He remembered that they were still holding hands.

[Sivan]

A tentative smile flickered at Urs' praise, though the gift came from his bloodline, not any particular virtue of his own. It was strange to sit there holding hands with a stranger, Looking at them and knowing that they could See quite a bit about him, as well. It was like being naked in public or something. Strange.

The strange smile lingered when Urs said they might both be witches if he desired it. Of course, he didn't know enough about the human culture to know whether it was a mantle he ought to wear, but all the same, it was nice to feel as though someone was willing to have a kinship with him and be pleased about it. Sivan had always been Other. He tried not to let a desire to belong drive him, though.

He saw Urs notice their joined hands, but didn't pull away. He sucked in a breath and looked up again.

"I don't know how to make this sound innocent, but I live nearby. If you would rather ride out the lager's effects there, I could take you there. Then you would know where to find me when you want to learn more, also." He made no effort to obfuscate his meaning. He was honest and his aether would attest to that if Urs had the knack for reading truth there. A part of it was that feeling naked in public thing; he felt more comfortable speaking about things like magic and such in greater privacy.

"But you will have to decide if you think I mean to rob you or not." The smile he flashed was wider this time, amused that someone would consider him a possible thief. He was too memorable, he thought, to make a good thief. Perhaps humans wouldn't notice such things, but any Hytori would say he looked strange, as would any Dratori. Humans might just see elf and think elf, though. It was difficult to tell with humans.

[Urs Wardell]

Urs watched as the color around Sivan brightened into a different hue. He watched the elf smile and felt a smile of his own grow on his lips. He didn't let go of Sivan's hands. He was pleased to find that Sivan hadn't let go either.

It'd been a long while since he'd felt connected to someone. He'd buried his family when he'd buried Mother. He'd never had much in the way of friends and the ones he had stayed behind in the Warrens. Urs hadn't asked them to come with him; him moving to the Upper City was enough of a gamble. Loneliness was the price he'd paid to start a new life. The people here spoke and lived in ways he hadn't imagined - and he, too, had lived in a way none of them had ever experienced.

"You won't rob me," he said, his smile widening. There wasn't anything that'd suggest that, not from what he Saw; and besides, there weren't many who lived in the Upper City who'd bother to rob a witch. Less, when they discovered that witch had grown up in the Warren shallows.

"I'll go with you," he said, his voice soft, after a few moments of silence. Sivan made him feel brave - bold, even. He felt lighter and clearer, now.

Urs got up to stand - only to stumble, falling on his butt. He winced, a pain echoing from his rear end all the way up to his jaw. "Ow," he groaned. He offered Sivan an embarrassed smile. "...I'll go, but you might have to help me get there." He hoped that wasn't as pathetic as it sounded.

[Sivan]

If he couldn't see Urs with his own eyes, with Exael's eyes, and through the lens of his runic magic, he might have wondered if he was a con artist or one of those creatures from the Warrens and elsewhere who charmed people into thinking they were weak and in need of aid, only to set upon them viciously. But the drunk man had clung to his hand all that time only to stand up too quickly and fall down. It happened so quickly, Sivan was only half-way out of his own seat when Urs was blinking up at him from the floor.

Lips parted in surprise quickly twisted into chagrin and then he was crouched beside the prone human once more.

"Lager is not your friend," he noted ruefully and once more helped him to his feet. His bill was paid and their drinks near enough to empty he didn't feel the tug of frugality keeping him there so he pulled Urs' arm over his shoulders and slipped his arm around his middle and walked him toward the door.

Outside in the growing gloom of evening, he added, "If you still enjoy my company when you aren't full of lager, perhaps we will be friends, though."

Then he set a careful pace past Master Jacun's alchemy and apothecary shop, pointing it out so Urs would know where to find him, and on toward his own home. He was solicitous enough, and not truly bothered whether people stared. But he frequently checked in with Urs to see how his balance was faring and his stomach. He hoped he hadn't had enough lager to make him sick. That could be a mess.

"Where do you live?" he asked. "I didn't even ask if it was closer than where I live." But at least the bar, his work, and his home were all within the Plaza of Jeweled Arches so chances were good he lived closer.

[Urs Wardell]

"It isn't," Urs mumbled, although he didn't sound too miserable about it. The lager hadn't been his favorite - but if he'd picked something more familiar, something he knew, well. He twisted his left arm so it curved around Sivan's shoulder and leaned into the elf.

"You are, though, I hope."

The outside sky was colored with the leftovers of the day. Purples and blues outlasted the rest, although those two were already fading to black. The city lamps were already lit and burning, smoke disappearing up into the coming night. Stars twinkled overhead, but only just. He'd heard that away from the city, in the wild, the night burned with stars and strange clouds.

He listened as Sivan spoke about his master's apothecary and asked a variety of questions in turn: about the ingredients, the recipes, Master Jacun. Mother had sold her own potions and poultices. Urs hadn't taken to it as well as he'd taken to magic, but he knew a recipe or two that had proved useful. Like the one he'd drank before buying the lager, to stave off morning sickness of all sorts. Mother had crafted it for those with child but the potion had uses beyond that particular demographic.

"The Low City," Urs said, smiling, his eyes more focused and his voice steadier than it'd been. The night air had sobered him, but he still held to Sivan's shoulder. He was still kept his body close to the elf. "My apartment isn't too far from the Commons, from the Tranquil Gardens, where I apprentice."

The Plaza of Jeweled Arches was on a completely different level. The buildings were done up, each unique and pretty, the streets were maintained and cobblestone. Everything looked the same in the Low City.

[Sivan]

Despite his intoxication, Urs asked interesting questions about his work with alchemy. That might be something to talk about another time, as well.

"Ah, yes. I was fortunate to find an affordable cottage close to Master Jacun's, knowing I would be trying to become his apprentice. I don't know what I would have done had he not agreed." He considered the rest. "Well, you are learning about healing and bodies. I work more with clockwork. That is interesting."

They had several things in common, and other things that seemed complementary. That they had been in the same place at the same time when one needed help and the other was available to give it seemed like some sort of providence if one believed in that sort of thing.

"This is my home," he said, pointing to a cottage as they approached. It was small, taller buildings on either side such that it looked like a little sibling being shouldered aside by bigger children. "When it's light out, the roof is green. Sort of verdigris though at one point it was probably brighter." He knew the word from his alchemical studies, and had been fascinated that it was also the word for a color that matched his home. He managed to balance Urs against his hip as he unlocked the door and then led him inside.

The place was small and simply furnished, but exceedingly comfortable. A sprite for each of the four elements did their part to maintain heat and humidity, cleanliness, and fresh air. It felt immediately like home, and even the bulky object in the corner covered by a sheet didn't make the place feel too cramped.

"There's a little yard in the back, too. My garden. Welcome to my home." He eased Urs over to the one chair and sat him down on it. "Would you like more water?" He might have offered wine or something, but he wasn't sure Urs wanted to pass out in a stranger's home, even a stranger who might become his tutor and friend.

[Urs Wardell]

Alchemy. Alchemy. Al-che-my. Hm.

Urs has assumed that Alchemy had been similar to an apothecary, or close enough that a shop was able to provide both the services of an alchemist and an apothecary. That was before Sivan had mentioned clockwork. That was...something mechanical, wasn't it. Like those strange skyships. Or that contraption at the Tranquil Gardens, the one the nurses said told time.

He hadn't said anything but he wondered if they knew there were easier ways to find the time. Mother had said some people track time with the sun or the stars. One of the Names in her notebook was a minor spirit who only told you the time.

It was unfair to have to learn a whole new way of speaking in the city he'd always lived in. The Warrens were different, but he hadn't moved that far away.

"It's cute," Urs said, "It's like...there was a story, I was told. A magician who lived in a small cottage they breathed life into. It lived on even after the magician but remained unchanged despite the world around it." It wasn't a happy story. The cottage held so tightly to the memory of their magician they stayed as they were while the rest of the world moved on - it doesn't take long for the cottage suddenly to find their neighborhood changed and unfamiliar to them.

He let Sivan ease him into the chair and reluctantly let go of his shoulder. "Yes, I'd like some water."

It was a beautiful home, Urs decided. It felt lived in and had clutter. There were books and hidden things and he could feel the magic here. "I think this is the first house I've been invited to, in the Plaza of Jeweled Arches."