a wizard unearthed

[cry_me_a]

Alli did not take her older sister's departure well. Jess bolted right for the door as soon as she turned eighteen, and Alli misses her and wants her to come back. She wrote, for a while, then even that petered out. It doesn't feel like home without her sister, in Alli's opinion. She's bitter and sulky at her mother for weeks (okay, months) and her mother just wrings her hands helplessly and gives her space. Jess was always the one who knew how to calm her down.

But now Alli is older. It's been a whole three years since Jess left and Alli is fine. Really. She's just going through boxes of Jess' old stuff again to see if she can use any of it. There's got to be a jacket that will fit her in here somewhere, it's starting to get cold out.

She's going through a box that's part clothes, part books and part mostly-unrecognizable hair care products when one of the book titles catches her eye. So You Want To Be a Wizard? That sounds awfully fantastic for Jess' usual style, and it doesn't even have a half naked couple on the cover. Curious what convinced her sister to branch out, Alli opens up the book.

Two hours later, she's still there reading it, and she's torn between skepticism and cackling with glee. She hears her mother calling her down for dinner, so she quickly reads the section at the beginning marked Wizard's Oath, tucks the book into her nightstand and goes downstairs to grab food.

What's she got to lose?

Comments

[intricate_engineer]

<I made my computer a little smarter, but I haven't done anything big.>

[cry_me_a]

The teacher is starting to look displeased with the chattering. <We should probably shut it before the teacher-> she considered going with Lady Stinkeye, but given the book's emphasis on the effects of naming things in the Speech, she'd really rather that title stayed metaphorical- <-murders us both. Want to chat at lunch? I could use a study buddy for this stuff.>

[intricate_engineer]

<Me too, where do you normally sit?>

[cry_me_a]

<Enh, I move around some, but usually in the back corner, near where they stuck those watercolor art projects. That work?>

[intricate_engineer]

<Yep> Glen grins and starts pretending to pay attention.

[cry_me_a]

Alli's focusing on her gum spell. It's close enough to paying attention that the teacher doesn't notice, at least.

At lunch she's where she said she would be, sprawled across two chairs and munching on a piece of pizza. Today's lunch also offered salad, but its availability does not seem to have bothered Alli in the slightest. A couple of her friends stop by her table and say hi, but she waves them off. Her excuse that 'I have a project with Glen' gets her some weird looks- since when does she voluntarily do homework?- but they obligingly sit at the neighboring table instead. Alli makes a mental note to come up with some more plausible excuse to work on spells with Glen. This one'll only last a few days at best.

[intricate_engineer]

Glen plops down next to Alli, and begins unloading her lunchbox onto the table.
She takes out a container of pancakes and begins slathering them with grape jelly.

[cry_me_a]

Alli looks at Glen skeptically. "I get the appeal of pancakes, don't get me wrong, but apparently I need to remind you that there is pizza. And pizza is the shit?"

[intricate_engineer]

"Pizza is overrated and pancakes are delicious," Glen takes a big bite.

[cry_me_a]

Alli goes for her pepperoni. "Weirdo. Whatever, you're wrong, more for me." She grins at Glen. <Maybe you can make pizza taste like pancakes?>

[intricate_engineer]

<I could make everything taste like pancakes!>

[cry_me_a]

<Hey! Not my pizza!>

[intricate_engineer]

Glen stares at the pizza thoughtfully then sighs, <Okay, I won't. This time.>

[cry_me_a]

Alli hugs her pizza to her. <It's okay, you're safe,> she assures it.

[intricate_engineer]

<Careful! It might talk back.>

[cry_me_a]

<Has anything talked to you yet? I've only talked to the stray cat my mom feeds. And he is an arrogant little> "shit, believe me."

There wasn't just a section in the book on 'why not to swear in the Speech'. There was an entire chapter. Apparently Alli's manual felt extra measures were necessary for this particular wizard.

[intricate_engineer]

<I've talked to my computer, my mom's car, and my phone. I tried to talk to a squirrel, but it didn't work.>

[cry_me_a]

<Woah, wait, things talk? I thought it was just things that were alive! You talked to your computer!?>

[intricate_engineer]

<Yea, it's grumpy, but I think it's starting to like me.>

[cry_me_a]

<Huh. That's both deeply weird and adorable. What makes a computer grumpy?>

[intricate_engineer]

<It hated my organizational system. I've since categorized and alphabetized things and it's happier.>

[cry_me_a]

<Okay, fine, that's adorable. Do other things talk? Should I be worried about my car?>

[intricate_engineer]

<I think everything talks, but some things are harder to listen to. You should say hi to the car on your way home.> Glen sighs, <I want a car.>

[cry_me_a]

<It'll be way better when it's actually mine. I only call it 'mine' because my mom's a space cadet and doesn't care if I use it.> She rolls her eyes. <She usually remembers I need an adult in the car to drive.>

[intricate_engineer]

<I wish my parents were like that. There's a tracking device on my phone. The other day it ran out of power and they accused me of hiding from them.>