we have a complex relationship with our sisters and our cousins

[dark_light]

Amariah is starting a circle in her yard - minting and enchanting can pull heavier duty than witchcraft, and faster, too, but they won't scale unless she wants to hand out copies of her trump cards; novel spells will, since there are many witches across the globe.

And then Jane asks if she wants to be visited, by Juliet's Sherlock - Minus - and Amariah's reply is "Sure, I could take a break." Because she's been at this for a while now and was just about to wish a crick out of her back for the second time this afternoon.

She puts down her pitcher of oil and waits for him to appear.

Comments

[eversomuchfun]

He smiles.

"I know. Thank you."

[dark_light]

"...Want to watch me cast a circle?"

[eversomuchfun]

"Happily. What pray tell is it for?"

[dark_light]

"It's not for practical use. It's a test circle, of sorts - I can draw them on paper but I've got a sense now of whether something is workable if I look at it in the actual material. And also this way I can take a picture and send it to other witches and they'll take me a little more seriously than if I just send them sketches. But the spell is for immortality, like I gave Kas - the kind witches have. To put on humans, and when I have that down I'll work on a bear version."

[eversomuchfun]

"I see," says Sherlock. "Handy."

[dark_light]

"It is." She picks up the pitcher and begins a steady walk around her bare yard-patch. "The bear version's going to be tricky because they don't have daemons."

[eversomuchfun]

"Are daemons an integral component?"

[dark_light]

"Of the spell setup, yeah. Most spells that do anything significant to a person incorporate the daemon. Witches and panserbjørne haven't interacted much in the past. I don't know what I'd do if I wanted to cast this on, say, you, although you're already an unrelated kind of immortal, twice."

[eversomuchfun]

"Feel free to experiment on me if it interests you. I wouldn't mind the hat trick."

[dark_light]

"Ooh, maybe I will," says Amariah. "Although that kind of spell I don't think I would show to the other witches. It wouldn't be the exact same as the bear version - their armor is a little like a daemon to them; I'd probably do a first draft oriented around that - so they'd be puzzled about why I was trying to immortalize a zombie."

[eversomuchfun]

"For his charming company, of course."

[dark_light]

"I would love to see you explain to a council of witch queens exactly how you manage to be such charming company without a daemon. But I think it might hamper some of my longer-term plans."

[eversomuchfun]

He laughs. "Such as what?"

[dark_light]

"I want to popularize immortality spells - most especially since I have an embedded dispersal mechanism, namely other witches - and most especially since I can't hook into Downside. And I think it is best if I am seen as inventive and clever, not weird and prone to associating with the offworld undead."

[eversomuchfun]

"But you are prone to associating with the offworld undead," he says merrily.

[dark_light]

"It's true! And yet not something I would prefer to advertise to the council of witch queens."

[eversomuchfun]

"Then I'd better keep myself well hidden, hadn't I."

[dark_light]

"Anyone with a lick of magical sensitivity - any witch, most humans - will know something is up with you. Not necessarily the undead part - you look much less undead now than you did before you got your soul stuck on - but the no-daemon part. I suppose if you get bored you could wander into a city and cause a riot, just don't connect it with me or let the stampeding get out of hand."

[eversomuchfun]

"I promise not to cause any riots," he snorts.

[dark_light]

"If you do want to visit a city we could probably come up with some kind of magical illusion that will fool most people."

[eversomuchfun]

"If I do want to visit a city, I'll think about it," he says.

[dark_light]

Amariah nods. "I mention it mostly because Kas gets stir-crazy out here in the middle of nowhere, he's always teleporting to this or that metropolis. I don't know if you're prone to that sort of thing."

[eversomuchfun]

"Not habitually. But thank you."

[dark_light]

"You're welcome."

[eversomuchfun]

He smiles and hugs her.