[Scholarly Abode of I.P.]A Club for Men[Seidaku]

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones wondered how his last statement would be taken. He might take him seriously, and wonder what he was, and figure he was non-human... Or he might just think he was making it up to be dramatic... You never knew with people... So Bones was not at all surprised by the humans response... It was quite common.... But while he might look to be human... He was not even close to it really... Though he supposed the only way to prove it really would be to show one of his other forms... But he did not really feel like doing that in the middle of a crowded area... "Well, I sssupossse ssat would be true for you... It being a longer time being half your current life.... But it isss not half my exissstence... Ssso from my perssspective it isss ssshort..." Knowing the question would come, Bones let out a sigh and continued on. "Twelve yearsss.... isss lessss ssan one tenth my lifetime I have lived..." Once more, Bones looked the man in the eyes, checking his expression, as often in humans there face told much of what they were thinking, or when they were shocked or surprised.

[Seidaku]

"Exactly," Seidaku said with a smile, tapping a finger on the table to emphasize his point, "It is all a matter of, umm, perception. Your perception naturally takes a, ah, longer view as the norm. Now imagine something like a, uhh, a Nuit, or some other potentially incredibly long lived race... They could speak events events they witnessed that occured, ah, before even the birth of your parents. Their frame of reference would be to yours what, ah, yours is to mine."

Even armed with the knowledge that the man sitting across from him was non-human and also long lived, Seidaku blinked in surprise at the age he hinted at. He was at least one hundred and twenty years old and, if his race aged proportionally to humanity, he could reasonably expect to live to be thrice as old. It was... daunting.

"That is, ah, amazing," Seidaku said with a broad grin, "Just imagining what you could learn... could see, in that time. Is Alvadas part of a, uhh, larger travel plan?"

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones thought on his question for a bit. As usual, he was not quick to answer, as he liked to think things over for a bit before responding. Bones felt he made less mistakes that way, and less often said things he did not mean to. Though often enough full meanings would elude him. You could never completely understand something, and often enough things had deeper implications than a person could tell until much later. Often things done one day, could impact you weeks, months, or years later. The power of a word was a bit astounding that way. So he tried his best to use his words carefully. Which meant when he did reveal something, it was for a reason, and he had carefully decided to do so, not just let it slip, as most people might assume. Bones kept a neutral look on his face, as the other man got excited. Showing his emotions like that was just not something he often did. Anger and rage were one of the few ones he let slip, and that was rare, leading to violence and someone usually getting killed. Though sometimes he did just pretend to be angry, just to mess with and intimidate the humans... "Yesss... I will sssurely sssee a lot in my lifetime... Who knowsss the full extent... Asss for the city... I am not sssure... I came here, asss it ssseemed right at the time... Perhaps further proof of the citiesss sssentience..." "And now ssat I am here... Well it dependsss on the city... I may leave... I may ssstay... But I am sssure ssere are many mysssteriesss left for me to unravel... Who can tell what the future holdsss...."

[Seidaku]

"That is, ah, certainly true. Alvadas can, umm, still surprise me, too," Seidaku said slowly. And it was also a fairly cryptic statement that did not answer the question. Perhaps though, the larger man really had no specific travel plans. Given what he had read of traveling that seemed unlikely, but he supposed it was possible.

Or, he thought with an almost imperceptible cringe at his rudeness, He simply does not want to talk about his past.

With that thought, he floundered around in silence, hoping for a change in topic to present itself. He rapidly discovered that nothing was going to leap out and help him. With an increasingly awkward feeling silence stretching out between them with no end in sight, Seidaku leapt upon the one possibility that fell out of his head. He stuck out his hand and said, "My name is, umm, Seidaku."

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones listened as the other guy talked. He seemed to be rather timid, and hesitant when speaking. Very different from Bones, who spoke with conviction. Different people though, and different personalities, not everyone could be expected to be as confident. Bones sat for a moment in silence, just listening to the room around him, and the other conversations. Though from looking at the other guy, he could tell he was not as comfortable with silence. Some people after all felt the need to fill any space in a conversation, and could not stand to not be talking. Bones was not like that, he appreciated silence, often sitting in it for hours to calm himself before heading out for the day, or after a particularly harsh day. He did not want to lose it and take someones head off.... You let it happen once... And everyone got all angry... go figure... Then he stuck out his hand, and told Bones his name. Seidaku... And what did he do with the hand? He always had trouble remembering... Those odd human gestures... Was he supposed to lick the arm? No... that was not humans... Grab it... Yes that was it... Reaching out his own hand, he clumsily grasped it with his own, trying not to crush the other guys hand. That also was not taken so well... But it had only happened twice... Though he also did once have a arm spasm and rip someones arm off... That was a bad day... "Humansss call me Bonesss... Sssince mossst can't sssay my full name... Ssso what isss it you like to do? Battle? You ssseem a bit sssmall for it? Crafting? Magic? Ssseen a few of ssose around... You don't ssshoot fireballsss do you? Only a coward usssesss magic to fight in their place... If you kill sssomeone, it ssshould be face to face. Magic isss to impersssonal..."

[Seidaku]

Seidaku winced slightly at the pressure of the man's handshake. It was possibly his imagination, but he thought he could hear the bones of his hand creaking in protest.

Through the pain, he wondered at the portion of a name provided. From the manner of speech he had already heard, Bones' species' language seemed likely to be nothing but a tangle of hisses and lisps, though the lack of difficulty with most of the Common consanants indicated that at least a broken pronunciation would not be far outside of his realm of capability.

The questions provided other, equally fascinating clues as to the society that Bones came from. Strangely, it appeared to be an oposite of Seidaku's own native city. The list of potential included only professions an inherently militaristic value. Warrior, magus, camp follower. Of course, that could be a matter of personal inclination rather than an example of cultural norm.

"Oh, umm, none of the above, really," he said, the lie plain across his face despite years of experience at telling it, "A, umm, scholar... mostly."

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones watched as he shook the mans hand, and as he winced... Odd, he had not even gripped that hard... Maybe the man was just really weak... He was decently good at gauging the right amount of pressure for dealing with humans. Bones listened to his weak response, which seems a bit weaker than his other statements. Did the man have no conviction behind his words? Surely he was something? But Bones was a bit caught off guard... He had been almost sure that he was some type of magic user... He could almost taste it on him... "Really? I wasss almossst sssure you had sssome magic in you... Mossst at leassst know a little... I myssself have a bit of ssskill in malediction... Though I don't use it all ssat often... Your sssure you have no magicsss?" Bones would ask him once more, while looking him right in the eyes with an intimidating stare, not letting him look away or shy off when he spoke, which was a common practice when lying...

[Seidaku]

Seidaku stared in confusion at Bones. Where could he be from that mages were more common than those who could not channel Djed? He had read that there were races with a greater natural inclination for magic than humans, but surely he would have read of a race formed largely from those so gifted.

His confusion and increasing interest alike both withered under the intensity of the larger man's glare. He licked his lips at the threat implicit in the stare, "Alright," he said, darting a nervous look around the room before leaning in and continuing more in a whisper, "I, umm, dabble some. Mostly Voiding, but I have studied Morphing and Summoning, and a, ah, a few others. But please, keep your voice down. Even in Alvadas, there is a, umm, rather serious social stigma against, ahh, against the practice of magic."

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones stared at him, unaware that he had said anything odd. In fact, where he was from, there were not all that many magic users, few of the dhani he knew were. He actually had meant in Alvadas, were there seemed to be magic around every other corner. Though this was probably more by chance that so many had magic that he met. He after all only new a few people, and it was just by luck many were mages. Bones gave hos attempt of a smile, to try to put him at ease, however whenever he tried to smile, it looked as more of a grimace. One more human expression he had not quite gotten right. Continuing on, Bones spoke a bit quieter. "Okay, I won't tell anyone elssse about your magic.... If you will teach me sssome... of your magicsss..." This last bit could be taken several ways, as a deal, an arrangement... Blackmail... But who knew how Seidaku would take it... Bones just kept looking him in the eyes, with that same intimidating stare, expecting him to say yes.

[Seidaku]

Seidaku silently weighed his options, but every path circled back to to the same conclusion. If it came down to Bones' word against his, he knew what people would believe. Or worse, all it would take would be a few carefully placed rumors that he was dabbling in 'things man was not meant to know' before he was in danger of someone deciding that the only good mage was a dead one. He looked across the table at the larger man, glancing away quickly when he saw the menacing sneer. Of the two of them, Seidaku was sure the one who came closer to the stereotype of the mage. If nothing else, Bones would be able to play the dumb mercenary role and any claim he knew any magic at all would be laughed at.

He finally sighed and agreed to the blackmail, cursing his luck at being in the Abode when Bones showed up. "Alright," he said softly, "I will, ah, teach you..."

He hated the prospect of teaching someone who, from the method used to gain the knowledge, he strongly suspected would seek to misuse it as flagrantly as possible. Still, there was one potential bright side.

He looked up from the table, meeting Bones' eyes and saying, in a voice more confident than he felt, "On one condition. You have to teach me Malediction in, umm, in return."