Second Floor Common Room, Sunday Morning

[endsthegame]

Ever since the broadcast on Monday showcasing Daala's brutal violent response to slave uprisings, Ender had been busy: busy writing emails, busy coordinating with his people in Ben's universe, busy privately worrying about where all of this would lead - with or without him.

But eventually he'd run out of things to do, as impossible as it had seemed at the start of the week. Somehow, that message hadn't quite reached his brain, for he still felt jittery and concerned; keeping a lid on it around Ben had just made it worse.

So in an effort to calm down, he decided to hit up the common room for breakfast today. Got two packages of microwavable pancakes out of the fridge and opened them up, using his deft microwaving skills to produce a stack - mostly in hopes of luring in someone to talk to.

Unlike certain people of his acquaintance, he didn't actually care much about the taste of his breakfast.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[glacial_queen]

Karla nudged a kettle full of boiling water over towards Tara. "Morning," she said, giving her friend a smile. "I snagged the last of the peppermint, as a warning."

She really hoped that wasn't the tea Tara was looking for.

"Mostly because I didn't want to go all the way back to my room for more." That whole distance!

...She'd replace it, though. Say, that afternoon.

[life_inshadow]

"It's a really long hallway," Tara said, flashing a smile as she poured the water over her bag of Lemon Lift. "Morning. Having a good week?"

[glacial_queen]

"A better one than last week," Karla said with a nod. "I was a little under the weather last week. Didn't really start feeling like myself till Friday. I think the food fight helped."

She added a bit of honey to her tea and stirred. "You?"

[life_inshadow]

"... want to know about the food fight," Tara said. "But I've been good. Um ... have you gotten to know Loki yet?"

[glacial_queen]

"You know Sam and Freddie?" Karla said with a small laugh. "They do the iCarly stuff? Apparently Friday night they were planning a chicken food fight. I smelled the chicken and kinda got drawn in. But I managed to rescue a roast and a bowl of orange chicken while Sam was dumping soup on Freddie's head."

...They were dating. Karla assumed it was some kind of weird flirting technique.

She took a sip of her tea before answering Tara's question about Loki. "I wouldn't say I know him," she said. "We had one conversation in class. I don't think we got off on the right foot, though. I was confused about what gods are kind of, and he was all dismissive about mortals. But I know he's good friends with Cassidy."

[life_inshadow]

"Sometimes it's the people here who are supposed to be normal who are the strangest," Tara said thoughtfully. She knew Sam and Freddie only vaguely, but she could see what Karla had described happening all too easily.

She shrugged. "Anyhow, we're working on magic together. He's ... interesting. Even if the god thing is weird."

[glacial_queen]

"I still don't understand it," Karla complained. "What are gods, exactly? They just seem like people with a lot of powers. But I know people like that! Jaenelle isn't a god, neither is Uncle Saetan. So what makes some people gods and other people not?"

[life_inshadow]

"The ones that make and help run the universe they're from are gods," Tara explained, as simply as she could. "Everybody else's powers come from them, if you ... believe in that."

[glacial_queen]

"But Hercules said that the current Greek gods were the grandchildren of the original makers of the universe," Karla said, frowning down at her tea like it held all the answers and just wasn't giving them up. "See why it's so confusing? Kaeleer doesn't even have the concept of that. We have the Darkness and the great old dragons, but we don't, like, worship them or anything."

[Sorry. Icon was too perfect not to use.]

[life_inshadow]

"Yeah, if your parents are gods, you can be a god too," Tara nodded. "And then there are all different traditions and beliefs and ... things. I mean, I believe in everything, but I kind of have to."

Tara's brand of magic worked better when she didn't think the forces she was calling on were liars.

[glacial_queen]

Karla didn't think Loki was a liar! She just didn't understand what being a god actually meant.

'Dite hadn't been that great at explaining it, either. Probably because it was hard defining something so intrinsic to who and what you were.

"So, being a god is a genetic thing?" Karla hazarded. "Maybe I should ask Luke about it, too. Since he's a son of a god. I bet he's got some useful insights."

She tilted her head at Tara. "What kind of magic are you and Loki working on?"

[life_inshadow]

"Luke might know more than I do," Tara agreed. "But yeah, I think it's mostly genetic."

She bit her lip and turned to Tara. "I want to see if I can work out a way to use magic to teleport. Every other way of checking on Kennedy has failed, so..."

[glacial_queen]

"And Raven's back on Azarath right now, so she can't help," Karla agreed, nodding. She took in Tara's expression and asked, "Is it safe?"

[life_inshadow]

Tara shrugged, a bit guiltily. "There are ways to do it that aren't totally dark magic," she said, which was ever so reasuring.

"I'll start small. Promise. Just figure it can't hurt to try."

[glacial_queen]

Karla hadn't realized that any of the spells involved dark magic. "Why is teleportation a dark spell?" she asked, puzzled again. "Or mostly dark. It's just...moving, isn't it?"

[life_inshadow]

Tara tilted her head to the side thoughtfully.

"I don't know," she said honestly. "I mean, I know my mom didn't do those spells, but I'm not sure anybody ever really told me a reason. M-maybe it's just a lot of power?"

[glacial_queen]

Karla nodded, though she couldn't really say. Craft just was, with no moral component and Tara's magic didn't work like hers anyway.

"Well, if you need a boost in the power department, let me know," she offered. "Like...if the dark stuff comes in because you're trying to generate all that power? Or something?"

Did that even make sense? Karla had no clue.

[life_inshadow]

"Maybe?" Tara hazarded. "I think it's more ... what you have to do to get the power. But I'll ask you if I think it'll help."


She frowned at her mug. "Maybe you could learn to teleport."

[glacial_queen]

"Craft doesn't work that way," Karla said automatically. And then actually gave it some thought.

"But maybe I could learn your way of doing magic, too. Yours is learnable, right? Almost like...formulas of words and ingredients and stuff?"

[life_inshadow]

Tara nodded.

"Totally learnable," she said. "I don't see any reason why somebody who was born with a different kind of magic couldn't do it. And now I'm wondering why I didn't think of this three years ago."

[glacial_queen]

"If nothing else, three years ago, I probably would have said 'Craft can't do that' and left it there," Karla admitted with a rueful laugh. "Fortunately, I've learned a little in that time."

[life_inshadow]

"And three years ago, I would have been afraid to ask," Tara admitted. "Growing up's kind of neat."

[glacial_queen]

"Except when it feels like it's happening too fast," Karla said wistfully. "I can't believe you're graduating in a little over three months. You and Warren and Ben and Raven and Ender and Gabs and..."

She stopped before the list just got waaay too depressing. "It feels weird that I'm going to be the last of the old guard next year."

[life_inshadow]

"Don't think that way," Tara advised, though part of her agreed and remembered everybody who'd already graduated; Merlin and Arthur and Katchoo and Francine and Tony and Dinah and Kennedy and Jono and...

The list kept getting longer, didn't it?

"Think of it as being ... the oldest in an awesome new guard! Or something."

[glacial_queen]

Emma and Jack and Kennedy and Sookie...

It did. And with every graduation, Karla had to fight harder against her desire to just kidnap everyone and keep them there, with her, forever.

That wasn't creepy at all, right?

"Have you and Warren talked anymore about college?" she asked. "I might be fun to visit two friends at once if you do."