Thursday late afternoon: 2nd Floor Common Room

[wildgalegirl]

Charlie had ordered some pizzas and some Chinese food and brought along some lightly charmed pies. The delivery services had brought entirely too much food as usual, but pizza and Chinese food made great leftovers. There were a bunch of movies to choose from for anyone who decided to come join them.

Comments

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Damn," Arden said, trying to picture that and failing utterly. "And Wild means not settling down and finding places far from the family to live...?"

How incredibly different their lives were. Charlie, surrounded by family, allowed to practice her magic openly, returning home once a month, her whole family history kept in lore. Arden, no family, pretending to be a normal human, ran away from 'home' with no intention to return, giant question marks for a past.

[wildgalegirl]

"Wild... maybe?" Charlie said. "Nobody talks too much about what it means. I guess we're all different, but yeah, most don't seem to settle down or have families - or maybe they just do it different."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Are you the first Wild Magic in generations or something?" Arden asked. "...You know your life sounds like a story, right? It's pretty awesome."

[wildgalegirl]

"Well, Allie's grandmother is a Wild power," Charlie said thoughtfully. "Auntie Catherine. She shows up every once in a while. And I mean it's not given that I'll go wild, but I don't have much doubt about it."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"So 'going wild' and being a wild power are different?" Arden asked in between bites of pizza.

[wildgalegirl]

"I am a Wild power," Charlie said. "And most of those go wild. Actually, I don't know of any who haven't... but..."

She shrugged. "I'm not gonna worry about it. I'm just happy living my life as it is right now."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"So being a Wild power is a thing you are and going wild is a thing you do, and they're both magic things, not just, like, you have the best weekends or whatever?" But Charlie's response had her looking a little concerned. "But again, if I'm being too nosy, I'll back off."

[wildgalegirl]

"Oh no, I don't mind," Charlie said. "And yeah, that sounds about right."

SHe grinned at Arden, "Which is not to say I don't have the best weekends!"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Hey that was a good segue for Arden to stop interrogating Charlie about her family like a damn creeper. "So what do y'all do for weekends around here? I keep expecting it to be more like the Triangle, with pub crawls and stuff, but everything seems really quiet."

[wildgalegirl]

"I usually go across the causeway onto the mainland," Charlie admitted. "Go to some clubs or pick up some gigs filling in for bands that need a guitarist. I sing and play most anything. You're welcome to join me some weekend."

Lots of hot people to hook up with too, but Charlie wouldn't ditch Arden for that.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Important rule of friendship!

"Yeah, going to the bar in town for 3MD was the closest I've ever been to a clubbing experience," Arden said with a laugh. "So I think I'm definitely gonna have to take you up on it. I've got a whole bunch of college stereotypes I'm failing to live up to."

[wildgalegirl]

"Awesome!" Charlie said. "You don't happen to sing or play an instrument, do you?"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Oh, uh." Arden glanced down, cheeks warming a bit. "I sing. A little bit. I mean. Like, I've never had lessons or anything, so mostly just in the shower. I don't think that counts for anything, though."

[wildgalegirl]

"I can work with you if you want," Charlie offered. And grinned. "And if necessary, there's always a charm to make sure you're on key."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

The narration would say that Arden sang like a bird, but there were certain birds that absolutely should not sing. So the narration will be more specific and say Arden sang like a nightingale. Or a goldfinch.

"The autotune of the magic world, huh?" Arden teased. "Music studios could never."

[wildgalegirl]

"So much better than autotune," Charlie said, "though I'd never do it for session or recording work. It's just for fun and only if the people involved know. And outside of Fandom - I don't share much of that."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Keeping your magic hidden, or...?"

[wildgalegirl]

"That and we're not supposed to charm non-Gales, well , the aunts and Aunties do, but," she shook her head. "Here in Fandom, if people know - well, I tell or ask first. Mostly. But Fandom's different. People here get people like me - or not like me specifically, but you know what I mean."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Yeah," Arden said, a little wistful. "But also, like...how do you trust it?"

[wildgalegirl]

"Trust Fandom?" Charlie smiled. "First off, the Aunties do and they're awfully picky. Also they have an amazing group of people from strange places with stranger abilities and so far they all seem willing to work together to protect everyone here."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Another point in favor of having a ridiculously huge and powerful family watching over you. "It just goes against pretty much everything I've been taught, you know? People with power do everything they can to keep their power. Very little is ever free and not on a grand scale. Stuff like that."

[wildgalegirl]

It would be a long time, if ever, that Charlie ever understood just how protected she was. She knew she was lucky and protected but didn't really understand it.

She nodded at Arden. "Whereas back home it's pretty easy for Gales to get what they want. But here, it does seem to be legitimately just the way the place works. No obligation, no hidden costs or tricks."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden couldn't help but laugh. "Impossible," she declared. "Nothing works like that. There's always something."

[wildgalegirl]

"I don't know," Charlie said, "but I personally think that part of Fandom - some magical thing about it - sort of vets who does and doesn't end up here. It's ... there's just something about it."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I mean, you've been here longer than me," Arden said, though very dubiously.

Look, she was here because her eighteenth birthday meant her debt to her legal guardian had been about to come due and being indentured for however long it took her to pay back the cost of caring for her for the past eleven years didn't sound like a great time. There was gonna be some resistance to the idea of altruism, even magically enforced altruism.