( and lo: she does, arriving sometime in the afternoon, her hair pulled back off her face with two thin braids pinned loosely at the back of her head. she is quite discernibly not twenty-two any more, though there are some things that don't change, including a propensity for unnecessarily tight pants and open curiosity. )
[ Severus is no longer ill, but he is still very busy - as always, but he prefers it like that. A cauldron is set to simmer behind him, casting steam that shimmers, odorless. He's sitting at a table and sorting colorful snail shells.
He doesn't say hello, but makes a monosyllabic noise of acknowledgement without looking up. ]
( ilde is willing to be satisfied with that. she finds a stool and sits on it, out of the way but close enough for easy conversation. she's been going through her old belongings, figuring out which of her clothes she can still wear unaltered (the blouse he made, her pajamas and robe, emery's cardigan; the pants and dress were made to be a tight fit on a body that hadn't had three children, and are going to require letting out) - which is not the same as busy, and in fact gets boring and a little bit disheartening quite quickly.
she's not quite restless, yet, but she is getting into the habit of staying in motion. 'tomorrow' (today, now) rather than 'a week and a half from now' was a bit of a relief, for something that might involve intelligent conversation and fewer expectations than she'd been mildly surprised to encounter. )
Lily and I are planning on comparing notes, too, ( after a moment, and with every indication she expects he already knows. )
[ Severus just nods, carefully sorting something. Since her arrival, he's studiously avoided giving anyone the impression he might so much as know Lily. She doesn't need him bothering her, she doesn't deserve to be anchored down by his reputation.
No one else needs to know he has feelings. And Ilde's been gone long enough (for her) that he's just going to pretend any evidence she thinks she has about it is all a warped memory. So there. ]
I might compile a basic knowledge reference, [ he says after a moment, finally looking up. ] It's overdue.
Most of the research I handed over to Charles is really more geared towards his field, but some of the videos might interest you, if Comms can make it work. Interviews with my grandfather. Great-great-grandfather. Most of what I've figured out, I got from there.
( less instructive, more that she studied them closely, observed what he did and didn't do, what he seemed to expect of himself, and experimented accordingly, though she was admittedly limited in how much she could really try doing. getting caught would've been ... you know. bad. )
That wouldn't be what I'd write up, anyway. [ A small shrug. ] It needs to be something about actively using magic; first on the list would be when not to try to teleport.
[ etc etc. Severus is clearing up what he was working on, and-- ] What did you want to do?
( meant more in the realm of 'possibly intellectually stimulating than relevant to your basics project', but there's also the possibility that it just isn't that interesting, and ilde reconsiders pushing it forward as terribly fascinating. )
--I haven't really been able to discuss it with anyone, ( she settles on, because that's actually the answer to his question. ) Magic. I thought it might be novel to have a conversation about it that isn't mainly 'don't'.
Edited (it's just one word BUT IT MATTERS, CLAIRE!! IT MATTERS) 2014-09-15 20:23 (UTC)
[ Severus already knows about fairies and half-breeds and lives in a society that contains a wide variety of non-humans; he'll read (and watch) it, because he goes through everything, but it's not personally very relevant to him. And he lacks the motivation to pretend it is. ]
What did you want to discuss about magic? [ ..He doesn't sound irritated, but a little ?? for a moment at her effectively making him repeat his question. ]
( that's the sort of thing that is tragically obvious in hindsight, to someone who is substantially less familiar. at least he's letting her awkwardness plateau, that's nice of him. )
--sorry, probably should've led with that.
( yes. )
You're human, right? So if a witch and some other sort of person had a child, they'd be...what their nonhuman parent was, plus human, with the potential for magic. Is that right?
Everyone has the potential for magic. Magic can occur in a child whose parents are muggles, non-magic people, and whose family has no history of it. Magical people can have children who cannot use magic. It's rare in both cases, but it can happen.
[ This is not really an interesting topic for him, and he doesn't sound very engaged. And he's already bracing himself to totally railroad and potential conversation about blood politics, for the record. ]
I was close. ( --a bit wry. ilde accepts that; she already knew that things work differently for them both, she's just clarifying specifics for herself - finding the nearest analogue for context.
she does briefly think as if children aren't enough of a pain in the ass when you can do what they can do with great fondness and the nurturing parenting style of simon "england understood children a nuisance until they are a resource" evans, comedian. she that, however, is a joke you make to other people who actually have children, and not people who either won't care or will think you're a sociopath.
abruptly, )
Is it very integrated? I mean-- if there's crossbreeding and people are used to it. ( that must mean it's possible for them all to live together, right? and that her efforts to build a magical community without the backbone of 'everyone fucking does what witches say' is not a complete pipe dream, surely? at the moment what they've got in common is 'fear', which is...not ideal. )
--I can sod off, if I'm boring you, I know you've got other things to do.
I don't see what this has to do with working with you about magic, [ he says, practically over '-things to do'. His tone is impatient. Yes, he's busy, and he thought Ilde actually had something she wanted to work on, instead of smalltalk. ]
It's something I've been working on at home, it's-- probably not going to get me that much further there even if I did remember, I'm just...curious about some things about how actually having a community works out. I can talk to Lily about it.
( it isn't smalltalk, to her, but it also isn't going to be productive in the slightest here and it's not as if there's some kind of great rush to have a conversation she's not even going to remember if and when it becomes useful. so. )
Practically speaking-- really, I just have to practise, and god knows that's a lot easier here. There's a couple of things, though...I know it's possible, there are-- call them 'fae sorcerers', I guess, it's sort of similar to how we use the word for humans. I don't know how to learn that. I'd sort of figured I just wouldn't, but it might be...I don't know, I think it's like water running in grooves. I learned things here and maybe that made it easier to learn them again.
a pause. then another one, because ilde is now aware of the babbling and if she starts talking again without ordering her thoughts, that's what's going to carry on happening. )
Once more with clarity. ( rueful. ) I'm not sure if what I need the most help with is actually in your wheelhouse. I more or less know what I can and can't do naturally, I just haven't got a lot of practise with it.
[ Genuinely, Severus has no idea what she's trying to get at or what she wants from him, and doesn't feel like asking her again. ]
Then you should practice. [ Bluntly. He probably could help her with it, but Severus realizes he doesn't want to. He doesn't want to keep talking to her with her weird mom eyes and her alien sense of distance. He wasn't ever sure if he actually liked Ilde or not (or disliked Ilde or not), but before this, at least she was in the age group of general social understanding. ]
( she hadn't been looking for practical guidance on mechanics, but - he's the wrong person to ask for what she is looking for and this has been probably enough of an experience for the both of them, probably.
she's already achieved such heights of awkwardness that she doesn't feel particularly so when she gets up, taking dismissal for what it is and too aware that really, this probably could have gone worse, in retrospect, to be particularly affronted by it. )
Take care.
Edited (repetition is my enemy ) 2014-09-16 09:05 (UTC)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Tomorrow?
no subject
( and lo: she does, arriving sometime in the afternoon, her hair pulled back off her face with two thin braids pinned loosely at the back of her head. she is quite discernibly not twenty-two any more, though there are some things that don't change, including a propensity for unnecessarily tight pants and open curiosity. )
Severus?
no subject
He doesn't say hello, but makes a monosyllabic noise of acknowledgement without looking up. ]
no subject
she's not quite restless, yet, but she is getting into the habit of staying in motion. 'tomorrow' (today, now) rather than 'a week and a half from now' was a bit of a relief, for something that might involve intelligent conversation and fewer expectations than she'd been mildly surprised to encounter. )
Lily and I are planning on comparing notes, too, ( after a moment, and with every indication she expects he already knows. )
no subject
No one else needs to know he has feelings. And Ilde's been gone long enough (for her) that he's just going to pretend any evidence she thinks she has about it is all a warped memory. So there. ]
I might compile a basic knowledge reference, [ he says after a moment, finally looking up. ] It's overdue.
no subject
Most of the research I handed over to Charles is really more geared towards his field, but some of the videos might interest you, if Comms can make it work. Interviews with my grandfather. Great-great-grandfather. Most of what I've figured out, I got from there.
( less instructive, more that she studied them closely, observed what he did and didn't do, what he seemed to expect of himself, and experimented accordingly, though she was admittedly limited in how much she could really try doing. getting caught would've been ... you know. bad. )
no subject
[ etc etc. Severus is clearing up what he was working on, and-- ] What did you want to do?
no subject
( meant more in the realm of 'possibly intellectually stimulating than relevant to your basics project', but there's also the possibility that it just isn't that interesting, and ilde reconsiders pushing it forward as terribly fascinating. )
--I haven't really been able to discuss it with anyone, ( she settles on, because that's actually the answer to his question. ) Magic. I thought it might be novel to have a conversation about it that isn't mainly 'don't'.
no subject
What did you want to discuss about magic? [ ..He doesn't sound irritated, but a little ?? for a moment at her effectively making him repeat his question. ]
no subject
--sorry, probably should've led with that.
( yes. )
You're human, right? So if a witch and some other sort of person had a child, they'd be...what their nonhuman parent was, plus human, with the potential for magic. Is that right?
no subject
[ This is not really an interesting topic for him, and he doesn't sound very engaged. And he's already bracing himself to totally railroad and potential conversation about blood politics, for the record. ]
no subject
she does briefly think as if children aren't enough of a pain in the ass when you can do what they can do with great fondness and the nurturing parenting style of simon "england understood children a nuisance until they are a resource" evans, comedian. she that, however, is a joke you make to other people who actually have children, and not people who either won't care or will think you're a sociopath.
abruptly, )
Is it very integrated? I mean-- if there's crossbreeding and people are used to it. ( that must mean it's possible for them all to live together, right? and that her efforts to build a magical community without the backbone of 'everyone fucking does what witches say' is not a complete pipe dream, surely? at the moment what they've got in common is 'fear', which is...not ideal. )
--I can sod off, if I'm boring you, I know you've got other things to do.
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( it isn't smalltalk, to her, but it also isn't going to be productive in the slightest here and it's not as if there's some kind of great rush to have a conversation she's not even going to remember if and when it becomes useful. so. )
Practically speaking-- really, I just have to practise, and god knows that's a lot easier here. There's a couple of things, though...I know it's possible, there are-- call them 'fae sorcerers', I guess, it's sort of similar to how we use the word for humans. I don't know how to learn that. I'd sort of figured I just wouldn't, but it might be...I don't know, I think it's like water running in grooves. I learned things here and maybe that made it easier to learn them again.
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What?
[ Ilde you're babbling. ]
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a pause. then another one, because ilde is now aware of the babbling and if she starts talking again without ordering her thoughts, that's what's going to carry on happening. )
Once more with clarity. ( rueful. ) I'm not sure if what I need the most help with is actually in your wheelhouse. I more or less know what I can and can't do naturally, I just haven't got a lot of practise with it.
no subject
Then you should practice. [ Bluntly. He probably could help her with it, but Severus realizes he doesn't want to. He doesn't want to keep talking to her with her weird mom eyes and her alien sense of distance. He wasn't ever sure if he actually liked Ilde or not (or disliked Ilde or not), but before this, at least she was in the age group of general social understanding. ]
I have to get back to work.
no subject
( she hadn't been looking for practical guidance on mechanics, but - he's the wrong person to ask for what she is looking for and this has been probably enough of an experience for the both of them, probably.
she's already achieved such heights of awkwardness that she doesn't feel particularly so when she gets up, taking dismissal for what it is and too aware that really, this probably could have gone worse, in retrospect, to be particularly affronted by it. )
Take care.